Ferries And Docks: How Accessible For The Disabled?

It was a chilly spring morning at Pier 69 on Alaskan Way. Light - but barely.

I was looking for a group of passengers who would be easy to spot: four wheelchair users, a man with a white cane and a woman who uses a three-wheel powered chair.

Their assignment on this windy, dreary day was to check the accessibility for disabled travelers of several marine vessels, including state ferries.

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act says it's not OK to discriminate against people with disabilities. Facilities must be accessible. But the federal agencies that set standards haven't given the marine industry specific guidelines.

So these consumers were conducting a "product review" as part of a study by Project ACTION, an enterprise of the National Easter Seal Society, funded by the Federal Transportation Administration. The idea is to highlight the 10 best sites for docks and accessible vessels and urge other cities and ships to copy the concepts.

Katherine McGuinness, a Boston consultant, is conducting the study in connection with the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Passenger Vessel Association.

As we zipped up our coats and donned hats and gloves in the waiting area for the Clipper Navigation ships, McGuinness gave instructions: Look at all the features from dock to boat. Aboard the ship, look at seating, aisles, wheelchair tie-downs, toilets, food facilities.

The group more or less agreed that ramps and tides don't make boats wheelchair-friendly to begin with. Throw in a little wind and motion and you've got more problems.

The plush Victoria Clipper IV got high marks for looks, and the crew for friendliness. But the ship did not have wheelchair tie-downs and aisles were too narrow for wheelchairs in some areas. The product reviewers wondered why seats couldn't be removed so that wheelchair passengers could sit with their companions, or fold up a seat's arms so that a wheelchair user could slide in, as they can on airplanes.

Robert H. Herman, advocacy attorney for the national office of Paralyzed Veterans of America, maneuvered into one of the few areas that would accommodate his wheelchair.

We sat facing one another and our knees were scrunched under the table. His other option would be to sit at a right angle to the table with his back to the window and the view. Not the way to see the scenery.

The wheelchair users gave only fair marks to the accessible toilet because it didn't have the 5-foot turning radius mandated by building codes. Carol Hahn, who uses a 48-inch-long, three-wheel powered chair, said she wouldn't be able to maneuver inside. The toilet was about 20 inches high; from 17 to 19 inches off the floor would have been building-code correct.

McGuinness ruled it the least accessible bathroom of those she and Herman have seen in their travels.

Elizabeth Gedney, director of marine operations for Clipper, said the original Victoria Clipper has the most accessible bathroom of the fleet, and it has been retrofitted with removable seats to accommodate wheelchair users. The company is now putting tie-downs on all its vessels.

Our next stop was the Chelan, a Washington State ferry.

Because the new elevators won't be ready at Colman Dock until Memorial Day, Barbara Allan of the Easter Seal Society and I got into her car and drove from Alaskan Way to a parking garage at First and Columbia, then made our way to the overpass at First and Marion.

That was deemed the easy route by Allan, a wheelchair user, but there are parts of the overpass where the incline is a bit steep.

Once aboard the Chelan, the group reported tight turns in the bathrooms. While one basin was at proper height for wheelchair users, the soap and towels could not be reached. And the crew had stored boxes and a wastebasket underneath the accessible wash basin in the women's restroom, making it difficult to use.

No one in our group was able to drive aboard the Chelan and park near the ship's elevator. Someone had phoned about 8 a.m. to reserve parking near the elevator for the 9 a.m. run to Bremerton, but was told that wasn't enough time. Susan Harris-Huether, customer information manager for the ferry system, said it should have been enough time.

Twelve of the state's 24 vessels have elevators. Phone (800) 84-Ferry to ask which ferries have elevators. When you drive into the toll booth, inform the attendant of your need to park near the elevator. be given a red tag.

The crew was helpful and friendly. Sometimes too helpful, in Herman's view.

Herman believes people can be overly solicitous of those with disabilities. But Kelly Toomey, advocacy director of the Northwest Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans Association, said it all depends on how people say things.

"If it's `Do you need help?,' I'm likely to say no. I value my independence. If it's `May I help you?,' I'll say sure and gladly accept," Toomey explained.

Overhearing our comments on the restrooms, a crew member handed each of us a customer comment form and said, "We want to get it right."

The reviewers found the Chelan's galley acceptable. They could wheel through the cafeteria line, but the condiments were too high for them to reach. And there was no table specifically for wheelchair diners. The dining chairs were in fixed positions. That meant Herman, Toomey and I again scrunched knees under the table.

Back on land, Julie Wysocki, who uses a powered, conventional wheelchair, and I hurried down Alaskan Way to Ivar's to get a lunch table.

Oops! No Braille menu for John Drane of the Washington Council of the Blind, who was with us. The ferries didn't have one either. Ivar's did get good marks for getting a table ready for our needs on short notice.

After lunch we made the Bremerton run again, this time on the Skagit, a passenger-only vessel. Herman pronounced the restroom one of the better facilities he'd seen, except for the heavy door.

As for the rest of the vessel, which has mostly fixed benches and tables, Allan and Wysocki said: "There's no place to park." Wherever they parked their chairs in the aisles, they felt they were in the way.

The Skagit originally had carpeting and tie-downs for wheelchairs. When the carpeting was removed because it was always wet and muddy, the tie-down devices became hazardous for other passengers and were removed.

The state will figure out how to restore the tie-downs, said Phillip Mitchell, a marine designer for Washington State Ferries, who made the trips with us. In other areas, Mitchell said, the ferry system will follow the codes for accessibility in buildings.

Getting on the Skagit just south of Colman Dock was easy. But none of the wheelchair users got off in Bremerton. They couldn't. The ramp and dock combination was too short for them to turn before running into the guardrail.

All in all, it was an eye-opening day for me, an able-bodied person. I'll look at pubic places in a different light from now on.

Shelby Gilje's Troubleshooter column appears Wednesday and Sunday in the Scene section of The Times. Do you have a consumer problem? Write to Times Troubleshooter, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Include copies, not originals, of appropriate documents. Phone, 464-2262, fax 382-8873, or e-mail address, sgil-new@seatimes.com