Letters: Compliance Affects Bikers

When I first arrived at Duke about three years ago, the lack of accessibility was really striking. Am I confined to a wheelchair? No, but my preferred mode of transportation is by bicycle. In fact, getting around by bike and getting around by wheelchair is broadly similar; the difference, of course, is that I can always get off my bike and carry it up or down some stairs, whereas the wheelchair users have no such luck. I immediately called attention to the major impediments to wheeled transport to Mary Thomas and Disability Management Services.

That office responded promptly, and I was hopeful that some things would change, but in fact nothing has.

The problem, I think, is that the office is entirely reactive, not proactive. Unless you are in a wheelchair (or on a bike) and experiencing these problems every day of your life, it's easy to do a quick fix and then forget about it. For example, many buildings and pathways at Duke are only accessible via the parking lots, and the parking lots have mechanical gates that must be opened either with a card or by triggering the sensor pad. There are a number of lots where the gate arms extend the full length of the entrance, thus making it impossible to enter unless you can raise the gate or get around the barrier. DMS took the time about two years ago to drive around with a saw and remove a few feet from the ends of many of the gate arms around campus, which was great, but whenever the arms are replaced (which is often, due to damage), the original full-length arms reappear. It really shouldn't be necessary to call DMS every time the gate-arms are replaced so they can fix it.

If Duke was truly interested in making an accessible and compliant campus, it would put some time into training people to think about these things more often, or at least prevent impediments from reappearing once they've been fixed. Truthfully, the costs of a few signs and a few more ramps would be minimal compared to the ongoing damage to the reputation of the University.

I suggest that people hop on their bikes and try to get around without getting off, then you can see how easy it is to get from place to place. You'll be amazed at how difficult it is. If the staff at DMS (and of course all of the higher-level administrators) commuted and moved around by bike, my guess is that they would be working much harder to improve the situation for the benefit of disabled and abled students alike.