Accessibility argument threatens to derail Columbia dinner train

Disagreements over whether a dinner train should be accessible to people with disabilities have stalled the project.

City officials and representatives of Central States Railroad Associates had hoped the Columbia Star Dinner Train would begin making its trips to Centralia and back this month. Advocates for people with disabilities, however, are insisting that the train have at least one car that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ADA prohibits discrimination and seeks equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The city is spending around $20,000 to ensure that its train facilities, including restrooms, parking spaces and the ramp to board the train, are in compliance.

Central States, however, argues that vintage trains are specifically exempt from the ADA and that creating a compliant car would cost about $175,000, making it economically impossible for now. The Columbia Star passenger cars were built by Pullman-Standard more than 70 years ago.

Making a vintage dining car comply with the ADA would require an accessible restroom, wider aisles and a side entry door. Lorah Steiner, the director of the Columbia Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said the number of seats that would be lost to such a modification would render the car unprofitable, and would force Central States to raise prices for all its products and services to a level that would make the project infeasible.

Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/09/18/accessibility-rift-derails-dinner-train/

How should Columbia accommodate the mentally impaired?

On July 23, the U.S. Department of Justice revised accessibility regulations in the Americans with Disabilities Act to require more accessibility in both public and recreational facilities.

The revisions won't take effect until next year, but Columbia is already thinking ahead. According to a previous Missourian report, the city wants public input on how to implement the changes.

However, it is unclear whether the act regulates how the city must assist the mentally impaired. The act's definition of "disability" includes individuals with mental impairment, but issues that are of priority to these individuals — such as finding housing and medical treatments — are not specifically mentioned in the original 1991 act or its 2010 revisions. Some private community-based organizations already seek to help individuals with mental impairments.

Should Columbia include accommodations for the mentally impaired in its ADA transition plan?

Source with live links included in the original article:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/09/08/todays-question-should-columbia-better-accommodate-mentally-impaired/#c

Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilties, Summary Report: Access to Education and Employment
Civil Rights and Human Dignity: Three Decades of Leadership in Advocacy for People with Mental Disabilties