For Immediate Release Gary C. Norman, Esq., Vice President, Legal Counsel and Spokesperson National Council for the Support of Disability Issues (410) 241-6745 We’re Not Going to Take It; We’re Not Going to Take It Any More: Disability Advocates File Petition for Rulemaking with Maryland Department of Transportation Time to Stop the Nonsense During the week of July 27, 2008, disability advocates, inclusive of the National Council for the Support of Disability Issues and a local division of the American Council of the Blind of Maryland have filed a formal petition for rulemaking to address growing concerns with the viability of a program entitled Taxi Access. Filed by disability civil rights advocate and attorney, Gary C. Norman, Esq., the petition seeks and requests the Secretary and/or his delegate at the Maryland Transit Administration to cease creating ad hoc policies and procedures for a paratransit related, but same-day transportation service, entitled Taxi Access, through formal rulemaking. The government has a sixty-day window in which to respond. People with disabilities in Maryland have found this recent improvement to MTA Mobility a profound asset in their arriving at work and other appointments in a timely fashion. Created in 2004 as a way to improve transportation in the state for people who are blind, vision impaired and otherwise disabled, it now seems that the intent of the MTA is to possibly abolish this valuable program, thereby flooding thousands of citizens who are blind back into Mobility - the Maryland Complimentary Paratransit Program that has been ailed with historic issues and against which suits have been filed in the past by such advocacy organizations as the Maryland Disability Law Center. Trish Fink, Executive Director of NCSD, stated that, “It is a shame that despite the year-long efforts of our Vice President and Legal Counsel, Gary Norman, to resolve growing issues, such as, suspensions of participants from the program, based on uncorroborated evidence and without any due process, disability advocates have to start a long administrative process that may lead to court.” According to Gary C. Norman, Esq., of Baltimore, Maryland, “With jurisdictions such as D.C. considering and implementing forms of same-day service, one would wonder the intent behind altering a same-day program in several jurisdictions in Maryland that has been argued to be not only cost-effective but also of positive affect on the quality of life of disabled people.” “The hope is that our recent and documented attempts to engage in interest-based negotiation with the MTA will be received more seriously and substantively by filing the petition,” said Norman. NCSD is a cross-disability and non-partisan education and advocacy non-profit. Approved by the IRS as a 501c3, donations to the organization are tax deductible. For more information about NCSD, www.ncsd.org. |