MBTA Buses to Watertown and Wheelchairs

The morning bus to Harvard Square is packed if you get on any time from 7 pm on. Five stops beyond mine there was a large group of people waiting to get on the bus, including a woman in a wheelchair. The bus was jam packed, but people could press further back and squish together to fit more folks on, so the bus stopped. The bus driver and a very loud passenger repeatedly asked people to push further back. However, people kept their backpacks on and grumbled instead of squishing.  Removing backpacks actually increases the space available.

While we were jammed in like sardines, the back of the bus still had some space; especially since everybody kept their backpacks on instead of putting them at their feet. The bus driver finally asked if a couple of people could volunteer to get off the bus to make room for the wheelchair.  Two people got off the bus, and the rest of us squished back further (angering the folks in the back of the bus, but hey, we all hate our morning commute). The woman in the wheelchair was finally able to reach the straps, the bus driver strapped her chair in place, and on we started moving again.

I ended up standing over an entitled hipster asshat who was emanating anger. His glares and grumbles were pissing me off, and I can't currently read a book when standing because my good hand is busy holding the bar. After more of his sighing and grumbling, I started reading his phone over his shoulder. He was writing an angry blog post about how the bus driver was discriminating against "normal" people by letting "the wheelchair" (note: he did not say the person in the wheelchair) on the bus and asking people to squish back and finally asking for volunteers to get off to make more room available for the wheelchair.  I purposely spent the rest of the bus ride making sure my fat stomach was pushing against his head and pushing him further into his seat just so that he could experience some discomfort like the folks who were standing.

I'm going to make something very clear. The person in the wheelchair is normal. That particular individual posting the rant that allowing a wheelchair on a full bus during rush hour is a whining idiot who thinks the world revolves around him. The buses are jam packed for two hours during rush hour.  People often stand at bus stops watching two to four full buses pass them because the folks getting on closer to the start of the route fill the bus. Perhaps the folks earlier on the bus route are the ones who are the problem.  Maybe the bus drivers should institute a system where every third bus starts halfway through the route so that people can actually fit on buses.

If a bus driver were to not allow a person with a wheelchair on the bus because individuals are standing in the aisles, the person in the wheelchair would be stuck at the bus stop for over two hours waiting for a partially empty bus. There was no discrimination against individuals not in wheelchairs. This driver made the appropriate call, and he asked repeatedly for folks already on the bus to make more room.  They did not do so and so the bus driver finally had to ask people to get off.  Honestly, we were at a stop that we regularly drive right past and it was impressive that the bus driver has been able to take on seven passengers, including the woman in the wheelchair.
 

While Watertown MBTA buses have doors on both sides,
the wheelchair ramp can only be accessed from the front door on the passenger side.

I have seen an MBTA driver discriminate against an individual based on wheelchair usage inside Harvard Square station. The buses in the Harvard Square station board on the driver's side, and if they board on the passenger side, there is only one person-width available for walking to the door.  The wheelchair accessible ramps are on the passengers side of the bus and thus unusable at the Harvard Station bus stop.

The bus driver berated the woman in the wheelchair and yelled at her for not waiting outside in the snow where there was a ramp available and for not obeying the tiny sign next to a different bus stop that directs individuals in wheelchairs to wait at a different area of the station where they get to hope a bus driver notices that they're there since the wheelchair ramp is not accessible at the station on the buses to Watertown.

The bus driver grumbled at the person in the wheelchair for not following directions. It took me ten minutes to find the small, bent, filthy sign that someone put stickers on when I went looking for it the next day.  Instead of pointing to where the woman in the wheelchair could easily board and then circling the bus back around, the bus driver intentionally humiliated her and convinced many others waiting for the bus that this woman was holding everybody up. I was pleased that she firmly held onto her right to be on that bus.

The MBTA bus driver could have used his radio to call a couple of folks out with a temporary ramp so that the woman could get onto the bus. Instead he parked the bus and told the passengers that we'd have to wait because he had to go get a ramp because the woman in the wheelchair couldn't be bothered to follow directions.

The bus driver then sauntered slowly into the station and ambled back ten minutes later behind two men who were walking at a normal pace. They erected a rickety temporary ramp from some plywood that barely managed to hold the wheelchair.  It took less than three minutes for the woman to get onto bus.

At this point, over 15 minutes had past since the bus arrived, and folks were still listening to the bus driver blaming the woman for the delay.  People waiting were muttering about how inconsiderate the woman in the wheelchair was and that it was all her fault they were delayed going home on a cold Friday night.  I wanted to say something, but the bus stop area was filled with angry people, and I was afraid that speaking up would cause a fight. I couldn't stand near the woman in the wheelchair to support her because she was at the front of the line, and pushing through the crowd would have definitely caused a fight.

That was an example of an MBTA driver discriminating against an individual.This morning's bus driver was simply ensuring sure that a person in a wheelchair had the same access to MBTA service that folks who don't use wheelchairs had. If folks had squeezed back further (yeah, uncomfortable, but necessary) - heck if the skinny little hispter had given up his seat and walked further back so that larger people could sit down there'd have been more space for standers, too. No, he didn't have to, but I got up and gave up my seat because I was willing to squish while other people were desperately trying to avoid touching anyone around them. Dude, it's rush hour, we are always crammed in so tight that we get sick from the heat. The wheelchair isn't to blame for taking up space.