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CITY OF STEAMBOAT SPRINGS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, will make immediate and significant changes to its public transportation policies and facilities to provide greater access for persons with disabilities, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department. The agreement marks the first time the Justice Department has intervened in an ADA suit challenging the provision of public transportation services.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, resolves a complaint filed by two individuals alleging that the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by purchasing inaccessible used buses for its public transportation system, failing to properly maintain and repair wheelchair lifts on its buses, and failing to properly train city bus drivers on how to operate the wheelchair lifts.

"Accessible public transportation is paramount to ensuring that persons with disabilities are fully integrated into American society," said Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "The steps being undertaken by the city are necessary to provide people with disabilities meaningful access to employment, health care and other services that are only truly attainable by way of reliable and fully accessible public transportation."

Under the agreement, the City of Steamboat Springs will:

• within 30 days of the filing of the agreement, lease two vans or minibuses for use on the City's fixed route system to replace two vans that are not accessible;

• use three other inaccessible vans only on a reserve basis in case of emergency, until they can be permanently replaced by a purchase of new accessible vans;

• ensure by August 2002 that all vehicles in its active inventory of vehicles are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities who use wheelchairs;

• implement a program to maintain the wheelchair lifts on all existing and future vehicles in proper operating condition;

• train all city bus and vehicle operators, dispatchers and mechanics on proper maintenance and operation of wheelchairs lifts as well as on the city's responsibilities under the ADA;

• adopt record-keeping policies and procedures relating to the operation, maintenance and repair of wheelchair lifts on all buses;

• adopt policies and procedures for providing alternative means of transportation in the event that persons with disabilities encounter inaccessible vehicles or vehicles with inoperable wheelchair lifts;

• develop and implement a public education program to promote the use of the city's transit system by individuals with mobility impairments; and

• submit annual reports to the Department of Justice detailing all actions taken to comply with the consent decree.