Wheelchair Protesters Get Support but Not Bus Lifts

Handicapped protesters who occupied a federal building for two days won a pledge of government support Tuesday but failed to win an order requiring wheelchair lifts on all new public buses bought with federal funds.

The Transportation Department “cannot issue a summary order commanding immediate access including wheelchair access for all transit,” said Steven Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, who met with the protest leaders. “We would if we could.”

But Diaz said department officials and the protesters had agreed on three points:

--Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner will be urged to meet promptly with disabled activists to ensure a “principle of accessibility” until Congress passes the Americans with Disabilities Act.

--The protesters will be allowed to continue a “symbolic presence” at the Richard B. Russell building in downtown Atlanta.

--Officials will relay to Skinner the protesters’ concern that new rules for handicapped accessibility to air travel are not being drafted quickly enough.

Problem Not Solved

“This agreement by no means resolves the problem of access; it just brings us a step closer,” said Mark Johnson, 38, of Alpharetta, one of the protest leaders who met with Diaz and other department officials.

He said he did not know if the protesters would leave the building, where they blocked elevators and entrance doors earlier Tuesday.

“We may stay here through Thursday or we may just leave a sticker on the wall. There could be a constant vigil at the building or we could all leave,” he said.

The protest by members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, began Monday when Skinner was in Atlanta to address the convention of the American Public Transportation Assn. At least two dozen protesters chained themselves to doors or blocked exits with their wheelchairs Monday.

Authorities attempted to eject several protesters from the building Monday evening but President Bush intervened and let them spend the night inside rather than send them out into the rain.

Entrances Blocked

On Tuesday, the protesters made good on a threat to block entrances to the building’s main level at noon if their demands were not met by then.

About two hours later, while federal officials met with protest leaders outside the building, about 160 chanting, singing activists kept federal employees and visitors from using 12 of the 14 main-floor elevators by blocking them with wheelchairs.

Security officers were able to keep two elevators open by using plant stands to keep wheelchairs away from them.

About 100 protesters spent Monday night in the building, eating takeout food and sleeping under blankets provided by attendants. Early Tuesday, a group of Atlanta bartenders brought them coffee and doughnuts.

“It was an uncomfortable night,” said Rick James, 39, of Salt Lake City. “The misery that we’re going through is worth it if we get what we want. All we are asking for is a lift on every bus so that we can be more independent. We’re not asking for a million dollars.”

But government officials have estimated that putting wheelchair lifts on all new public buses would cost $90 million a year.