U.S. Would Require Buses to Aid Disabled

Greyhound and other bus carriers should make their entire fleets accessible to disabled people by 2012, the Transportation Department proposed Friday.

Starting in 2000, any new bus bought by a carrier would have to be fully accessible. By 2006, half of all fleets would have to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. While the companies are converting buses, they would have to supply a handicapped-accessible bus if a disabled passenger gives them 48 hours’ notice.

The proposal also calls on the carriers to install wheelchair lifts at their stations on a “common-sense, phased-in” schedule. The same rules would apply to charter and tour companies.

The department issued the draft guidelines in response to a lawsuit filed by several Arizona residents. They argued that the typical practice of helping the disabled onto buses, and stowing wheelchairs with cargo, did not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.