Text 15556, 47 rader
Skriven 2007-06-21 02:54:17 av Josh Hill (1969.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: Re: OT: a proposal for increasing teachers' salaries
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On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:42:56 -0700, Charlie Edmondson
<edmondson@ieee.org> wrote:

>Ok, a case in point.  In this country, in many areas, there were 
>paratransit systems set up to help the disabled with their 
>transportation needs.  They were pretty ad hoc, with some towns having 
>better, and some worse, systems, but in most cases, they worked.  My 
>wife signed up for several of them in her day.
>
>Then, along comes the ADA that 'mandated' these systems.  In most cases, 
>these systems quickly became better, as towns and cities felt they 
>needed to have them to meet the law.  Very good!
>
>Then, the feds 'really' got involved.  They decided they needed to set 
>standards for these things, and minimum requirements, and 'acceptable' 
>levels of service.  Immediate effect?  Just about every gosh darn one of 
>these cities and towns LOWERED their service to these federal 
>'standards', making just about all of them unusable to a seriously 
>disabled individual needing regular transportation.
>
>You might ask, what did they do in these regulations?  Well, for one 
>thing, it limited access to a paratransit system to residences within 
>3/4 of a mile of an existing, regular bus route, there by excluding 
>rural and suburban users of the service. (most suburbs, being middle 
>class folks, don't have bus access since they are expected to use cars...)
>
>Next, they set standards of responsiveness.  A paratransit operator only 
>has to give a window of access, so, if you ask to be picked up at 8am, 
>they will give you a window of plus and minus 20 minutes!  Try telling 
>your boss that you might be 20 minutes late, or your doctor.  And, this 
>is to catch a bus that might have 3-5 other pickups before it gets you 
>to your destination.  If my wife wants to go to a Dr. appt at 10, she 
>needs to get a pickup at 7:30.  Or, I can take off work for 40 minutes 
>and give her e ride... (20 minutes there, 20 minutes back!)
>
>So, do I want the feds involved in ANY local issue?  NO WAY IN HADES!

Best just to give it to the Feds.

-- 
Josh

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