Kathryn Scholl of Siskin, Steve Jett and Tom Dugan of CARTA are shown at announcement that all CARTA buses are now wheelchair accessible. Click to enlarge all our photos.
photo by Christina Siebold
Beginning May 26, CARTA will be the first urban transit system in Tennessee to offer wheelchair accessible buses on all its routes, Tom Dugan, Executive Director of CARTA, announced Thursday.
At CARTA’s Board of Directors meeting, Mr. Dugan said, “This move makes all of our buses accessible to the community as a whole.”
Chairman of the Board Steve Jett said the main costs for equipping the buses came when CARTA began retrofitting their buses with wheelchair lifts in 1992. As new buses were purchased, wheelchair lifts were included. With the recent addition of 20 new buses, CARTA’s fleet has attained wheelchair accessibility on all 65 of its vehicles, including the shuttle and the Incline Railway.
Mr. Jett said the move will free space on CARTA’s Care-A-Van service, which has been operating at full capacity for some time.
Jim Queen, Director of the Care-A-Van service, said his 15 buses serve approximately 2,500 clients in Chattanooga, and many more have been denied access because of space limitations. “This will give our disabled clients more independence now that CARTA is offering pretty much the same service on all of the buses. They will now be able to access freedom and opportunities without scheduling with us in advance.”
Kathryn Scholl of Siskin Hospital has worked in cooperation with CARTA in training bus drivers and potential bus riders on the new services. “This is going to open up social activities for people with disabilities. They can go wherever they want to, whenever they want to. It will help them become more a part of society.”
Mr. Dugan said transportation was a critical issue among Chattanooga’s disabled community, but that it was just one problem they faced every day in their struggle for increased independence.
“They deal with issues of housing, jobs and economic development,” he said. “This is just one step towards meeting their larger goal.”