The answer is simple and unpleasant: Already in 1990 disabled people in the US succeded in getting anti-discrimination laws (ADA-laws) passed, while Norway still allows discrimination of disabled people at a.o. public transportation. This madness is payed for by Norwegian taxpayers.
Grete Linn Haldorsen (37) from ULOBA uses a wheelchair and had to travel half way around the world before she today for the very first time in her life could ride on the subway. This all took place in San Francisco´s 35 year old subway-system BART.
A ride on the subway in the homeland of the ADA-laws is like this:
- There¨are elevators from street level down to the station.
- Down at the station a majority(!) of the ticket machines are in suitable height for a person in a wheelchair. The machine has braille for visually impaired persons, and a syntetic voice reading out loud the functions of the ticket machine. (The phone booths at the station are also in suitable height for a person in a wheelchair.)
- Down at the platform there are loudspeakers and light-signs telling travellers that we all have a common duty to make the subway system accessible to everyone, and reminding travellers not to block the way for seniors and disabled people.
- Every 2-3 minutes the loudspeakers and the light-signs are telling travellers which elevators in the city´s subwaysystem that are out of order this particular day, so that wheelchair-users know before they start the ride.
- At the edge of the plattform you´ll find tactile lists with one pattern for the many meters where there are no doors, and another pattern on the spots where there are doors. This helps visually impaired persons to know where to enter the subway-train. Believe it or not, every train stop excactly in the right position. The pattern always matches the traindoors. A visually impaired person can easily enter the train. (Please not the passanger with the white cane inside the train.)
- The gap between the train and the platform are only 4-5 cenitmeters wide. There are no diffrence in level.
- Every car on the subway has two doors. The first door in every car are clearly marked with a wheelchair symbol. Today our train had 9 cars, meaning 18 persons in wheelchairs could ride on this train. Inside there are space for wheelchairs and a sign telling that the federal law gives wheelchair-users the right to use this space.
- The two nearest seats are marked with signs telling other travellers that the law says that they will have to give these seats to seniors and disabled persons. (People always jumped away with a smile when we arrived.)
- In addition to this you find in every car on the train a big sign with safety-instructions. On top of the sign there is a wheelchair symbol, and a text about assisting disabled people in a case of emergency. In Norway: When did you last see disabled people even included in a safety procedure?
- At your destination there are elevators and bars big enough for wheelchair-users to have their tickets checked.
The subway-debutant Haldorsen from Bergen, Norway are planning a new subwayride already tomorrow!
In the USA, the homeland of capitalism, they have subways for all thieir citizens, while we in the welfarestate of Norway haven´t. That´s disgraceful!
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