Refusals by bus operators

When the MTA bought its first accessible buses, drivers said they didn’t have enough training to operate the lifts and didn’t bring keys to use them. Disability activists Denise McQuade and Anne Emerman protested when they couldn’t board. Anne was threatened with arrest, and Denise sat on the bus steps for seven hours until she could finally board. Activists later gave out keys to those who needed a lift.

A six-photo color collage showing disability activist Anne Emerman protesting in front of an MTA bus in 1981 and later boarding an accessible bus lift.

Date: 1981

Image Description: A color collage of six photographs arranged in two vertical columns documenting disability activist Anne Emerman’s 1981 bus protest and subsequent use of wheelchair-accessible buses. In the left column, three photos show Emerman during her protest: at top, a New York City police officer leans over her as she reaches out to hold onto the front of a bus while another officer stands behind; in the middle, she sits in her wheelchair in front of MTA bus 2244 holding its windshield wiper to block it from moving; at bottom, she speaks into a yellow WBAI microphone surrounded by onlookers. In the right column, three photos show a smiling Emerman in a dark coat using a wheelchair lift at the doorway of a blue-and-white accessible bus featuring an advertisement reading “MILK. THE DRINK IN THE CITY.”

Source: Anne Emerman Collection

Pamphlet titled "The Guide To Riding Wheelchair Accessible Buses In New York City" alongside a diagram of a bus lift key and instructions on obtaining one.

Date: 1981

Image Description: A scanned two-panel spread from a cream-colored brochure with red and blue text and graphics. The left panel is the cover, reading “The Guide To Riding Wheelchair Accessible Buses In New York City / Compiled By: The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights, New York 11370-1177, (718) 803-EPVA / Third Edition 1991,” above a blue graphic of the front of a bus with a wheelchair access icon by the door. The right panel shows a blue silhouette of a bus lift key next to a section titled “Bus Keys,” which explains that bus drivers are required to carry a lift key to activate the wheelchair lift, and that the Transit Authority has made a supply of lift keys available through disability organizations like EPVA so riders are not denied service.

Creator: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA)

Source: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA) Collection; Jean Ryan Collection

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