82 vehicles were able to pick up disabled passengers and to transport them easily to their destination in the city. These special buses, though, experienced financial of difficulties because an inadequate understanding of the market available, poor scheduling, and insufficient 8 advertising." If these bus lines can learn from past The means, then, is there to make transportation accessible. is a question. The stories of alleged discrimination against handicapped individuals who are now capable of traveling raise doubts about how cooperative transit officials would be toward initiating changes that would allow more disabled individuals to travel freely. * The most publicized cries of discrimination have been raised against the airlines. Some handicapped people have contended that Tariff Rule No. 15 of the Civil Aeronautics Board ruling No. 142 discriminates against them. The rules state: "Persons who cannot take care of their physical needs should not be transported, unless by previous agreement, suitable attendant accompanies them," 9 For an example of similar discriminatory practices by the railroads see the testimony of Henry Schweiker for the Interstate Commerce, page 2. 83 The handicapped have attacked this ruling on two fronts. They contend that airline officials do not know who can take care of his own needs and, therefore, require attendants for handicapped people that do not need them. Moreover, the disabled person is expected to pay for the attendant, and this is seen by the impaired as inequitable. Some airlines go further and reserve the right not to carry any disabled passenger that makes the other passengers uncomfortable. The airlines' defense, although not clearly stated, is that they do not want to be held responsible for any injuries suffered in a crash by a handicapped passenger who could not take care of himself. Some airlines also apparently feel that part of their job is to shield able bodied passengers from the unpleasant presence of physical disability. Congressman Vanik has said that one of the main reasons he is introducing an amendment to the Civil Rights Act is to correct discrimination in transportation. If the amendment passes, the airline rules in question will be subjected to court suites. Under the threat of these suites the will to make transportation accessible may be coupled with the ability to do so. Footnotes 84 Transportation Helping All the Handicapped, the Report of the Massachusetts Vocational Rehabilitation Planning Commission, (published by the State of Massachusetts, 1968) p. 111. 2Mobility, p. 29. Travel Barriers, (Washington, 1970), p. 5. 4Ibid., p. 10. 5Mobility, p. 23. "Testimony of Harry Schweiker, administrative assistant for the Paralyzed Veterans of America, before the Interstate Commerce Commission on March 20, 1972, p. 2. 7Travel Barriers, pp. 28-38. 8Ibid., p. 39. 9Speech by Congressman Vanik Congressional Record, March 30, 1972. 85 Housing There has been no evidence presented to suggest that the handicapped are discriminated against when seeking housing because people do not want to live with them. However, the handicapped do have difficulty in obtaining suitable housing because of inaccessibility due to architectural barriers, even though federal-funded housing projects must be accessible to the handicapped, and because a lack of knowledge about the available market for housing for the handicapped still exists. The Department of Housing and Urban Development included the physically handicapped in the low-rent program authorized by the United States Housing Act of 1937 which offers assistance to local communities to provide housing for people who cannot afford that which is available on the private market. Other federal government programs that offer financial housing aid to the disabled are: the direct loans program, which grants low interest long term loans to nonprofit applicants who build units for the physically handicapped; a demonstration grant program that makes grants to groups to exhibit new advances in housing for the disabled; mortgage insurance programs that insure mortgages on 86 construction for the physically impaired or elderly, and a rent supplement program that pays part of the rent to housing owners who have disabled tenants. 1 Special housing facilities for the handicapped have opened or are planned in Seattle, Toledo, New York City and Fall River, Mass. It is vital that housing complexes for the handicapped such as these be architectually accessible, be located near educational, rehabilitation, training, and employment services, include dining and + laundry facilities, and provide attendance service for A survey of housing needs done by the Massachusetts Association of Paraplegics concluded that the most desirable architectural features to include in housing for the disabled were: elevators, railings on stairs, wide doors, special bathroom facilities to allow for toilet and tub transfer from a wheelchair, ramps at all entrances, and special kitchen facilities so handicapped homemakers could reach cabinets and the stove, and otherwise maneuver. 2 While architectural barriers have been eliminated in places, they still exist in far too many housing developments because of the enforcement problems noted in the chapter on architectural barriers of requiring |