| All sides feel anxiety over Dial-A-Ride
With a low, hydraulic whir, a Dial-A-Ride van extends a black steel welcome mat to Vivian Armendariz outside her apartment in northeast Fort Collins. A push of a joystick later, the 34-year-old Armendariz, who has spina bifida, backs her wheelchair onto the ramp, which lifts her into the van for an afternoon shopping trip to Target. .
Residential Wheelchair Lifts
Wheelchair Lift was designed and engineered for home use. It's easy to operate, easy to install and virtually maintenance free. Every safety detail has been carefully designed into these lifts. Including a non-slip platform, constant pressure switches, a low platform for easy roll-on/roll-off, safety barrier and railing, and rolled edges.
Residential Wheelchair Lifts have maximum lift heights of either 50 inches or 72 inches. These Wheelchair Lifts are sturdy enough to lift and lower up to 500 pounds and will accommodate electric wheelchairs and scooters. Running on a gear box and chain, these wheelchair lifts provide a smooth and quiet up and down ride, requiring little maintenance. All mechanics are fully enclosed, yet are easy to access through the rear or front of the housing unit. The wheelchair lifts are completely weatherized and attractively finished in off-white.
Man loses paratransit ride
For the past four years, Utah Transit Authority's efforts to get more people out of paratransit vans and onto buses and TRAX has been working, thanks to stepped-up enforcement of eligibility standards.
UTA's goal was to shrink costs without hampering disabled riders' access to their wider communities. The agency believes it has been successful.
But this month, UTA's paratransit manager denied further service to Matthew Padley, a 31-year-old North Salt Lake resident whose family doesn't believe he can ride the bus safely.
Padley has had brain damage since birth. He is autistic, obsessive-compulsive, has club feet and severe arthritis. But because paratransit evaluators examine riders' mental and physical abilities, not their maladies, UTA declared Padley could ride paratransit vans only under certain conditions.
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