Wheelchairs on ramp buses

[Andrew Bichard]

In another thread James Burns says:

Also, I found the old style buses (Lift) (only 80 left out of 360 fleet) easier to get on than the newer (Ramps) more disABLED friendly buses! All of the fleet will be the newer style by the end of the summer.

I know this topic was 'done to death' last summer, but James' news that the entire bus fleet will be ramp buses by my next visit alarms and dismays me.

I ride a power wheelchair, not an ECV. Last visit at least, the rule for ramp buses was that you had to back on, although some drivers (not all) would allow you to go on forwards with a 'carer' following behind to stop you tipping over backwards. My chair cannot possibly tip over backwards because it has anti-tip wheels out back. If I go foreward I can see where I am going, If I reverse I can't. going foreward I have full directional control. Going backwards up a slope, my chair can swing uncontrollably side to side so I need someone holding my footrests to keep me straight.

On my last trip this was no great issue as there were very few ramp buses. If all buses are the ramp type, I am effectively prevented from going anywhere without my wife to help me onto the buses as the drivers are apparently forbidden from doing this.

One of the reasons that I come back to WDW year after year, is the total freedom it gives me to come and go as I please, on my own, without my wife to help me. This freedom means that for a few weeks I am not 'disabled' at all. I can visit the parks & resorts while my wife soaks up the sun by the pool.

I assume that someone in the past has tipped over and hence Disney has made a rule which they are applying indiscriminatelty to all wheelchairs & ECVs regardless of their differing designs & characteristics.

Please, please Disney, rethink your rules.

Andrew

PS. I hope Disney has done something about loading at the parks and Downtown. Were there is no sidewalk, the bus ramp has to be a little steeper to cope with the extra 5 or 6 inch drop. This increases my problems as I have to switch to full power to pull up the steeper ramp, making my chair even less stable in reverse. All that is needed is a small platform at each park for loading wheelchairs so that they don't have to negotiate steep ramps (in reverse).

 

[SueM in MN]

We will be going to WDW soon and I will see what I can find out.
I do believe the "everyone back up the ramp" came from a situation where an ecv tipped over going forwards, but, as you pointed out, a power wheelchair is not the same as an ecv. Power wheelchairs would be safer and under better control going up the ramp frontwards.

 

[dclfun]

I *always* go forward on the ramp busses and if questioned, explain that the manufacturer of my chair states this is the only safe way to utilize a ramp. I have a Permobil and have thought of cutting out the portion of the manual that states this fact, laminating it, and bringing it with me if necessary but have never been denied boarding in the way that I choose. If you explain your needs and the safety requirements of your chair, the bus drivers do listen. ---Kathy

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Originally posted by dclfun
never been denied boarding in the way that I choose. If you explain your needs and the safety requirements of your chair, the bus drivers do listen. ---Kathy

I am glad drivers were helpful to you. When I visited last ( in September 2003), some drivers allowed me to go up foreward with no-one behind me (including a bus supervisor at MK) but some didn't. Some drivers were flexible, but others were 'going by the book'.

Andrew

 

[NancyDVC]

Andrew,
We just got back this past Tuesday. We had rented an ECV for my friend for the week because of arthritis. On all the buses she had to back onto the ramp, both the old style lifts and the newer ramps. We found the drivers very helpful in directing her in how to get on & off. As a physical therapist I know how difficult it can be to maneuver a power wc backwards. Maybe an explanation as suggested by Kathy will help. I found the drivers to be very accomodating.

 

[SueM in MN]

For lifts, all wheelchairs and ecvs need to be backed onto the lift so that the heavier part of the wheelchair/ecv is closest to the bus when the lift goes up. That's the way it is for any lift, on a bus, van or even in a house.
For the ramps, ecvs need to be backed up because they have the majority of the weight over the back wheels. They can tip over backwards if they are driven up a ramp because the wheel(s) farthest up the ramp have very little weight on them (you actually do a wheelie).
Power wheelchairs should go up the ramp frontwards because they are in best control that way. Because the weight is distributed more evenly over the front and back of the wheelchair, they have a much more difficult time tipping over backwards than an ecv does.
The problem came when WDW got their new buses. Their policy is that all power mobility devices are to be backed up the ramp. This is appropriate and safe for ecvs, but it is inappropriate and unsafe for most power wheelchairs. Some bus drivers/supervisors left it up to the power wheelchair driver to determine the safest way to proceed. But, some people last summer posted they were told that it didn't matter what the manufacturer of their wheelchair recommended, the policy was allpowered devices needed to back up the ramps and if they would not back up, they would have to wait for a lift bus.

The part I don't know is whether or not WDW has changed their policy to allow power wheelchairs to be driven up the ramp.

 

[dclfun]

Andrew- I think when they first got the ramp busses they were alot more strict. Everyone was probably recently trained, etc. They tried to insist that I back up on the lift busses as well which is also impossible and unsafe. I have a ventilator on the back of my chair and feeding pump, both of which have tubes and hoses that could get caught in that area behind me. I wasn't willing to take that chance! I did speak once to a bus supervisor who said he'd add my information to their instruction manual, basically to indicate that it's not "one size fits all" and people who drive specialized chairs do know best how to handle them. ---Kathy

 

[Talking Hands]

Sue,
My last trip I was allowed to go up the ramp forward after stating that it wasn't safe to drive my power wheelchair backwards up a ramp. Occasionally you will get a driver that is insistant and then I ask to talk to a supervisor and point out that my back wheels swivel making backing unsafe and that my power wheels and the weight is in the middle of the chair under the seat.

 

[SueM in MN]

It's good to hear that they have modified their policy.
I know that last summer there were bus drivers who were told they were not allowed to let anyone in a powered mobility device go up the ramp forwards. There were people who wrote WDW transportation to explain why this was not safe for power wheelchair users. I'm glad it sounds like they listened.

 

[Nanajo1]

I joke with my DH that the ramp at the TTC is more dangerous to drive up (and down)with my ECV than the new busses' ramp!
I actually had one driver put his hands on the tiller of my ECV and try to push it down the ramp while I drove it in. My DH told the driver he would stay behind me and the driver let me drive on.