Martin v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Auth.

Decision Date07 October 2002
Docket NumberCivil Action File No. 1:01-CV-3255-TWT.
Citation225 F.Supp.2d 1362
PartiesVincent MARTIN, et al., on behalf of themselves and all other disabled persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

Georgia Kay Lord, Office of Georgia Kay Lord, Decatur, GA, Joshua H. Norris Office of Joshua H. Norris, Atlanta, GA, Henry Timothy Willis, Disability Law and Policy Center, Tucker, GA, for Plaintiffs.

John Roger Lowery, Karen Margaret Vaughan, Pursley Lowery & Meeks, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

THRASH, District Judge.

This is an action in which the Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief against the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority ("MARTA") pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act. It is before the Court on the Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Doc. 15] and Amended Motion [Doc. 25]. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiffs' motion with respect to liability.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs have brought this action for injunctive and declaratory relief on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated individuals with disabilities alleging that there is a system-wide pattern and practice of discrimination against people with disabilities by Defendants. Plaintiffs' claims are brought pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. ("ADA") and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq. ("Rehabilitation Act").

Plaintiffs allege that they have suffered and continue to suffer immediate and irreparable injury due to MARTA's continuous violations of both the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act in the operations of its mass transit system. Plaintiffs have profound physical impairments. Plaintiffs Martin, Thomas and Reynolds are blind or visually impaired. Plaintiff Baker has cerebral palsy and requires a wheelchair for mobility. Plaintiffs Davis and Hasan Amin are quadraplegics and require wheelchairs for mobility. The Plaintiffs contend that they are dependent upon MARTA to provide them with their daily transportation needs.

This action was filed on November 28, 2001. The parties engaged in some discovery. There were some discussions between counsel regarding settlement. These discussions were unsuccessful in resolving the case. The Plaintiffs filed the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Doc. 15] on March 28, 2002. At a scheduling conference on April 2, 2002, the Plaintiffs withdrew their Motion to Certify a Class. A hearing on the Motion for A Preliminary Injunction was scheduled for June 3, 2002. The parties were allowed to present testimony by affidavit provided that the affiant was available for cross-examination upon request by the opposing party. At the June 3 hearing, the Court heard opening statements from counsel. The Plaintiffs called four witnesses for direct examination and one MARTA employee for cross-examination. The Defendants rested upon their affidavit testimony. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court became aware that the Federal Transit Administration was about to issue a report concerning an audit of MARTA's compliance with the ADA. The Court postponed the scheduled oral argument on the motion until the report could be made part of the record. The report was filed with the Court on June 21, 2002. The Court then received additional briefs and heard oral argument on the motion on August 5, 2002. Neither side raised significant credibility challenges to the testimony presented by the other. Therefore, unless otherwise noted, all testimony referenced in this Order is accepted as credible and worthy of belief.

A. Availability of Information in Alternative Formats

Plaintiffs allege that MARTA's failure to provide them with scheduling and route information in accessible formats violates the ADA. MARTA provides schedule and route information to disabled customers through an information telephone number that a disabled customer can call and get information on a specific route. MARTA contends that schedules are available in Braille, if requested through customer service, although it may take several weeks for the customer to receive the schedule.

At the evidentiary hearing Plaintiff Brent Reynolds testified that "his major problem with MARTA has always been access to information, the accessibility of schedule and timetable information, especially for the buses...." (Transcript of Evidentiary Hearing of June 3, 2002, at 95.) Mr. Reynolds testified that he has requested information from MARTA in Braille, but never received it. On one occasion he was told that customer service did not handle those requests. (Transcript at 104.) When he finally found someone at MARTA to assist him, he was told that information in Braille would only be provided if he identified a specific date of a trip, the time he wanted to depart a certain point and the point at which he wanted to end the trip. (Transcript at 117.) Since he was unable to obtain the schedule information in Braille that he wanted, Mr. Reynolds then requested stop announcement information to be sent to him in text files so that he could use his computer to translate it himself. Instead of what he requested, Mr. Reynolds testified that he was sent a "turn list" by MARTA, which is basically the driving route provided to drivers. This was not what Mr. Reynolds had requested, nor was it helpful to him. (Transcript at 112.)

Mr. Reynolds also testified as to the telephone service provided by MARTA. Information is available by telephone, Mr. Reynolds said, if it is a specific request such as "what time does [sic] the next three number 25 Peachtree Industrial buses leave the Peachtree Industrial station." (Transcript at 117.) If it is a more complicated request, for example, if he needed to find out how to get to a place that requires him to go from one bus to one or more trains and then to one or more buses toward outlying areas, he said that very frequently he receives incorrect information from the customer service people. (Transcript at 117.) Finally, he stated that he is often on hold for a lengthy period of time, anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. (Transcript at 118.)

Defendants argue that the telephone schedule and route information is the same information provided to any MARTA customer, whether disabled or not. (Transcript at 117.) However, Mr. Reynolds responded that although it is the same service, the difference is that he cannot get information on an entire route with the timetable so that he could independently plan a spur of the moment trip. He can only request very specific information. (Transcript at 117.)

Three other Plaintiffs' witnesses also stated they have never received information from MARTA in accessible formats, although they do not reveal when they made such a request or from whom. (Booth Aff. ¶ 8; Coon Aff. ¶ 14; Huggins Aff. ¶ 10; Martin Dep. at 11.) Mr. Roger Dottin, who is employed by MARTA, in their Office of Government and Community Relations, testified that MARTA makes information packets available in Braille at several public libraries, but only when MARTA is having a public seminar, public meeting or community meeting. (Transcript at 85-6.) The information packets do not contain schedule or route information. (Transcript at 86.) Mr. Dottin also testified that if a customer called and requested an entire route or schedule in Braille they could receive it. (Transcript at 88.)

Mr. Andy Greider is employed by MARTA as its Web Developer. MARTA's web site (http://www.ITSMARTA.com) provides the general public with extensive information on the routes and schedules for its fixed route services. It is not yet formatted in such a way that it is uniformly accessible to persons who are blind. (Greider Aff. ¶ 6.) Since June, 2002, Mr. Greider has been working to make MARTA's web site more accessible to the disabled. (Greider Aff. ¶ 5.) MARTA is in the process of developing a plan to modify its web site so that route and scheduling information can be displayed in an alternative, plain text format that is easily deciphered by text reader software. (Greider Aff. ¶ 7.)

B. Wheelchair Access on Buses

Approximately 40% of MARTA's buses are 1990 model buses that have wheelchair lifts. These lifts use a hydraulic, electronic and mechanical system that is hard to maintain and is easily damaged. If the system does not operate, the lift cannot be operated manually. (Mirsajedin Aff. ¶ 6.) The newer buses use a ramp system which is easier to maintain. The ramp system can be operated manually. (Mirsajedin Aff. ¶ 11.) Plaintiffs allege that riders who need to use the ramps and lifts on fixed route buses frequently encounter a failure of accommodation, leaving them stuck on the curb for extended periods of time. Ms. Sheryl Grossman, who suffers from Blooms syndrome which is a developmental disability manifesting itself in short stature, testified that she often has a problem getting on and off the buses. Ms. Grossman needs the use of the lift to get on and off the bus because of her height and arthritis. She testified that when she makes a request to use the lift to board the bus, the drivers often question her as to why she needs it because she is not in a wheelchair. (Transcript at 27.) She also testified that she has been left by drivers who refuse to lower the lift. (Transcript at 28.) In addition, Ms. Grossman testified that frequently she has to wait at the bus stop for 30 minutes or more because lifts on the buses are not working and, therefore, she has to wait for one with a working lift. (Transcript at 29.) Ms. Grossman also maintains that customer service has been completely unresponsive to her. (Transcript at 28.) She has called many times to both complain and praise drivers. Frequently, when she calls customer service she either gets a recording to leave her name...

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