Disability advocate pushes for bill that raise fines for those who cause obstructions around bus stops

From The Boston Globe:

Anyone who rides MBTA buses knows how tough it is when you're dropped off 6 feet away from the curb and forced to dodge traffic to get to a sidewalk.

Add a baby stroller, a wheelchair, or sight impairment and it gets trickier, if not
impossible - "especially if it's snowing and sleeting and there's already 2 inches of ice on the ground," said Don Summerfield, a disability advocate from Cambridge who uses a cane (pictured).

The culprits are often drivers of private cars who can't find a parking space and then decide a bus stop will do. Maybe they just need a tube of toothpaste from the drugstore and figure no one will mind if they stay three or four minutes.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and advocates such as Summerfield hope a bill now on the governor's desk will discourage that practice. The bill, approved by the Legislature last week, would raise tickets to $100 for parking at bus stops. Governor Deval Patrick's spokesman said his staff is still researching the measure to decide whether he will sign it.

Under current policy, each city sets its own fine. Boston's is $55.

"We write people tickets, but it doesn't seem to get their attention at $55, or whatever it might be in their community," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, MBTA general manager.

He said he hopes a higher fine - coupled with enforcement by Transit Police and local forces - will help drivers remember. "We wanted to make sure people knew it was a serious matter, that was impacting the safety of all passengers," he said.

The inability to get to the curb is a top complaint of both passengers and bus drivers, Grabauskas said. The T has been training drivers to do a better job in that effort as part of the $310 million class-action settlement with disabled passengers in 2006, he said.

Still, members of the T Riders Union have continued to complain publicly about obstacles for disabled riders, including rude behavior from drivers and long distances to the curb. A spokesman for the riders' union could not be reached Friday.

Summerfield said he is hoping that if the law passes, the T and others will work to get the word out. "If a motorist understands there's a new law with a very, very steep fine, they're going to think twice," he said.