The resignation of Howard Roberts, NYC Transit (NYCT) President is a loss for NYC’s community of people with disabilities and a gain for Philadelphia.
By James Weisman
In my 30 + years of legal advocacy for people with disabilities I have encountered hundreds of public officials; none were more dedicated to doing a good job than Howard. He knows intuitively how to relate to the transit user community, including people with disabilities.
I first met Howard in the early 1980’s when we were called Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA) and were struggling with the “liberal democrats” on the MTA Board opposing our efforts to make mass transit accessible. As a result of advocacy by the disability community and EPVA’s lawsuit, lift equipped buses began arriving in NYC. Keys to operate the lifts were not distributed to drivers, however, nor were they trained in the use of the equipment. MTA’s position was that we forced them to buy the hardware but they weren’t going to use it. They would show us.
Howard Roberts, a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, was hardly a bleeding heart when it came to acknowledging the rights of people with disabilities but he was a responsible CEO of the bus division of the NYCTA. I can’t remember his exact words then, but they were something like “it’s my job to provide transportation to everyone who can use the bus; it’s my job to make sure equipment, including the lift equipment, is maintained.” Drivers were trained and made proficient in the use of the new buses.
During the 80’s when he took over the bus division, transit managers began to take their responsibilities seriously and meaningful accessible bus service began. Twenty five years later, accessible bus service, which once seemed like an expensive folly to the MTA Board, provides tens of thousands of rides a month, in the five boroughs most at peak hours, (work trips) to people with mobility impairments.
Howard left to become the number two executive at SEPTA, Philadelphia’s public transit agency. When he came back as head of NYCT he created a “kitchen cabinet” of advocates for disabled passengers.
Once he met Terry Moakley, a motorized wheelchair user and long time advocate and I and together we took the bus from Jackson Heights to the subway and the subway to Grand Central Station to see how the system worked. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, the trip went smoothly.
Roberts desired redundancy in large station complexes when providing elevator access, i.e. he wanted to provide back up elevators in case one goes down. We won’t get a chance to see his ideas implemented as MTA’s Board just abandoned the idea.
Disabled riders still have problems – both the City government and the NYCT ignore our issues, waste money, and, on occasion, violate the transportation mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act but we knew Howard Roberts wanted to do it right.
Mr. Roberts, the disability community says thanks, job well done. Mr. Roberts’s successors – please take notice. We’re here and we can save you a fortune by turning paratransit users into mass transit riders if you work with us to make the bus, subway and taxis accessible and useable.
James Weisman is Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
