What do we talk about?

Transportation is about freedom. When we are restricted to the houses where we live, unable to get out into our communities, we are not free.

Some of the problems we find with transportation in Virginia are:

• Private transportation providers sometimes only provide rides to and from doctor's appointments only because that's what they can get paid for.
• Getting affordable transportation to work, to stores, to non-medical appointments or to social events is much more difficult.
• There are very few transportation providers we can choose from and fewer that we can afford to use.
• We have to make arrangements for transportation at least a couple of days in advance, which means we can't do anything that isn't scheduled.
• Public transportation isn't available in all areas of the state.
• Taxi companies and friends don't usually own wheelchair accessible vehicles.
• Transportation providers and people who would be willing to be providers are deterred by the cost of insurance and the fear of liability.
• Even when a person with a disability owns his/her own van, it can be hard to find someone dependable and affordable who can drive it.
• When we need to make plans to go farther from home, we know that flying airplanes can be difficult. We can't fly alone and we have to get out of our chairs and ride in a seat which can be very scarey.
• Rental car companies don't rent accessible vehicles.
• It seems to us that our complaints are not considered because they usually do not result in any changes.
• We believe that over booking, under-funding, poor condition of vehicles, unreliable and tardy transportation providers reflects disrespect for people with disabilities.