Amazing

Go UTA

When I boarded Trax car 1010A, this morning, I was astonished to see the seat configuration presented in today’s image. The seats, which usually face each other, had been removed to greatly increase the area in which folks wheelchairs and scooter might be able to ride. I was at first. Like I said, asto0nished, then I was skeptical as I eyed the area closer. “How was this really going to assist folks in wheeled devices ride the Trax?” True, with the bench seats gone on this one side, with the added area in the front of the car, right behind the driver’s station Trax could conceivably carry a good sized heard of folks with disabilities. Just as nature abhors a vacuum so do people with disabilities and that space, no matter how large will eventually be filled with wheeled transportation devices. I called my friend Sherry R-at the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) to see if the modifications made to 1010-A
Was to be a system wide change—the small answer was “?” The large answer was ( and one I was not ready for at all ) the Authority was going to begin ordering low-floor cars. This is a monumental piece of information for me—and should be for all people who use Trax. This means that people using wheeled devices for mobility will be able to access these low-floored
( let’s call them low-riders) cars anywhere along the boarding area, like in San Diego, California . This means not having to be crammed into the small space behind the driver’s area because that is the only place where folk using wheeled devices can access. This means-or should mean- that a person with a mobility device can access the train anywhere this is car low enough to just roll on from the sidewalk . This means no more tearing up the walkway next to the train trying to get to the first car, because that is the only car you can access before the driver pulls the train out. In all fairness, I might add that if the driver sees you racing up the sidewalk and you seem close enough to get to the front car in an acceptable time, and the driver likes you, the driver usually waits. But there is nothing more heartbreaking to be swinging round the end of the train and be racing up to the front to have the train pull out just as you get to the bottom of the mini-high block. I am sure it will take a while before the low-riders go into effect system wind, so I am sure the mini-high blocks will be round for a long time to come. I can live with that knowing that change is on it’s way.