First Thursday: The Importance of the ADA and Your Vote

On August 25, 2014, The Atlanta Journal Constitution published an opinion piece by William Lind. In the article, Mr. Lind opined that the "ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has proven the single most expensive, least useful mandate ever leveled on public transit. Mr. Lind, who is Director of The American Conservative Center for Public Transportation, goes on to say that, "Many of the special facilities ADA demands of transit systems are seldom if ever used. If something intended to serve the disabled is frequently used, including by people who are not disabled but nonetheless find it helpful, I'm all for it. But millions have been spent entirely uselessly."

Mr. Lind obviously does not know people who rely on public transportation to get to work, the doctors or to an Atlanta Braves game. He does not understand that the goal of the ADA is for people with disabilities to have access to the same places and opportunities as others. The physical barriers in our communities are often very difficult to overcome.

Without access to accessible public transit, many people with disabilities would be unable to get to work. People working to improve their and their family's life is the foundation of American society. Yet, for people with disabilities who do not or cannot drive, public transit is the only option to get to work. Does this mean that Mr. Lind would rather have people with disabilities sitting at home and on the public dole? Would that not go against his "conservative" viewpoints?

Like his comments about public transportation, Mr. Lind would like us to ignore people with disabilities in many parts of our communities. He references Andres Duany, the founder of 'new urbanism" and his call for a lean urbanism. Lean urbanism is nothing but calling for the end to regulation in the building industry. Many of us have worked with builders to create volunteer programs that would make homes more accessible and visitable. In Georgia, we tried to develop a volunteer certification program with home builders that recognized homes built with certain accessibility features. This effort resulted in few homes actually being built with these features.

In 2005, because of the advocacy by people like Eleanor Smith, the new urban vision was questioned because many of the homes were not accessible or visitable to people with disabilities. As Ms. Smith wrote, "The contradiction is that, by and large, the homes constructed in these "ideal" communities are neither livable nor visitable by people with mobility impairments-- and not a wise choice for temporarily able-bodied older people, either."

What Mr. Lind does not realize is that the requirements to make things more accessible to people with disabilities makes it more accessible for those of us without disabilities. During the years, when we were working to make homes more accessible, I often told the story of having a double wide stroller to push twins in but how difficult it was to get into homes or through stores. Senator Johnny Isakson would talk about setting a house to an ex-football player who because of his size needed a wider door. Accessibility requirements are not a burden. The same is true of transportation. Raised platforms, LED signs with visual stop announcements and audible stop announcements help all of us and make it easier to determine when trains are coming.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the historic passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Georgians will join others across the nation in celebrating this important civil rights law passed to end discrimination of people with disabilities in the work place, the movie theater and on public transportation. Mr. Lind's comments reinforces that some people still believe it's about "picking yourself up by the bootstraps" and that prejudice and discrimination doesn't really exist. As we move into an election season and the 25th anniversary celebration I think it is important to ask those who you might vote for where they stand on Mr. Lind's theory. We cannot allow this kind of mentality to prevail in this country.

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