Guemes Island Ferry Committee

Carl Cady

Dixon Elder

Marilee Fosbre

Steve Orsini

Glen Veal, Chairman

Steve Flude

Skagit County Public Works Department

1100 Cleveland Avenue

Mount Vernon, WA 98273

4/17/03

Dear Steve,

We are writing to bring forward concerns expressed to the Guemes Island Ferry Committee by a Guemes resident, Terry Ebersole.  Mr. Ebersole is advocating on behalf of ferry riders with physical disabilities.  The Ferry Committee endorses these concerns and we urge the Public Works Department to address them. 

We would like to share several resources that might prove helpful in your work on this matter. 

On the Federal level a possible resource may be:

Maritime Administration
MAR-100.2, Room 7213
Office of Civil Rights
400 Seventh St., SW
Washington, DC 20590
202.366.5065 (Voice), 202.366.4137 (TTY)

An additional federal resource may be the Access Board which is a Federal agency committed to accessible design.  This link deals with maritime vessel accessibility http://www.access-board.gov/pvaac/status.htm

On a local level you might wish to contact Chuck Davis at The Northwest ADA & IT Center, which is the federally designated Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) for Region X - serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  Chuck may be reached at (800) 949-4232.

In the long term, the Ferry Committee considers the accessibility barriers presented to the rider ship by the Ferry Guemes and the facilities on both the Anacortes and Guemes sides to be a critically important area to address.  In the short term we are urging you to consider possible solutions to the barriers presented to riders with disabilities that will occur during the haul-out when the Straight Arrow is commissioned for passenger only service.

Sincerely,

Guemes Island Ferry Committee

cc:                   Skagit County ADA Coordinator

                        Terry Ebersole

attachment:     letter from Terry Ebersole dated 3/30/03

3/30/03

Dear Committee Members:

As suggested at today's Guemes Ferry Committee meeting, I am following up my verbal comments in writing.  I am very concerned with the ferry system's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).  I attempted to raise my concerns in general on this matter in my January 29, 2003 letter to the county commissioners which responded to the discussion draft of the Guemes Island Ferry Operations Management Analysis.  A copy of my letter was provided to the committee.  

The specific concern that I raised at today's meeting and again here, is lack of ADA compliance in the delivery of ferry service to Guemes during "haul out" of the regular ferry.  I am basing this concern on the service that has been provided during past "haul outs".  It is my conclusion based on today's committee meeting discussion that service during this July's "haul out" is planned to be essentially the same.  While I do not have a head count to offer, there are a number of island residents who because of mobility problems find it essentially impossible to travel from and back to the island during "haul out" because the services provided to them make it too challenging.  I would guess that there are also mobility impaired visitors wishing to visit the island during "haul out" who face the same challenge.  I am reasonably certain this lack of access does not meet the requirements of ADA.  Without providing a precise list of accessibility problems, land side portions of the system, the shore to ferry boat connection or transition, and the ferry boat itself all need attention.  Some noteworthy specifics include:

1)significant to extreme ramp inclines or angles,
2)absence of grab rails,
3)absence of wheelchair tiedowns, and
4)absence of accessible inside seating at all for persons who find it impossible or difficult to maneuver passenger only boat stairs or ladders, and absence of accessible seating for those same persons who have difficulty standing and have no choice but to travel on the deck.

The ADA is now nearly 13 years old.  It is a landmark national civil rights law that has among its aims the maximization of independent mobility of disabled persons using public transportation.  It is past time for the Guemes ferry operation to be in compliance.  Dramatically improving the accessibility of service during July's "haul out" is an important place to start.

Thank you.

Terry Ebersole
5308 West Shore Road
Anacortes, WA 98221