Phoenix, Arizona
April 5-8, 1987
For three and a half years ADAPT – American Disabled for Accessible
Public Transit – had been focusing efforts on the American Public
Transportation Association (APTA), calling for them to adopt a resolution to demand all public transit systems across the country to become fully accessible; to serve notice to bus manufacturers that its members will only purchase accessible, lift-equipped buses; and to have APTA press the Federal Government to reinstate the Section 504 regulation mandating all public transportation systems be accessible.
ADAPT leaders had presented at a APTA national convention, met separately with organization leaders, met with government leaders in Washington, DC, and protested the inaccessible status quo across the country – all to no avail. APTA never brought forth, considered, or voted on the resolution.
In April, 1987, ADAPT protested at the Western Regional Meeting of
APTA held in Phoenix. Several were arrested, spending two nights in jail.
Three were separated from the rest. The two individuals in this image were not ADAPT members. They were local people with disabilities, Dr. Fred Cheshire, and Ellen Pilcher, Miss Wheelchair Arizona, arrested for adding their voices and bodies to the effort.
