Law Office of Lainey Feingold
Disability Rights Legal Advocacy

The United States Access Board has announced that it will (finally) publish proposed Public Rights-of-Way Guidelines on July 26 - the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The guidelines will address access to sidewalks and streets by people with disabilities, including accessible pedestrian signals, crosswalks, roundabouts, curb ramps, street furnishings, parking, and other components of public rights-of-way. Technical specifications on these issues will be welcomed, but it is important to remember that the Americans with Disabilities Act has required such access for more than twenty years.

October 10 - 16, 2010, has been designated by the California legislature as the state’s first ever “Disability History Week.” The official designation is the result of disability community advocacy efforts spearheaded by “Youth Organizing! Disabled and Proud”, a project of the the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. This historic week provides a welcomed opportunity to look at the history made by blind advocates and their organizations in California as part of the on-going push for accessible technology.

SFMTA Expands APS Program

Accessible Pedestrian Signal Program Receives Stimulus Funds

San Francisco (March 24, 2010)–The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all surface transportation in San Francisco including the Municipal Railway (Muni), today announced that the City has received federal stimulus funds that will equip five additional intersections with Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS). In the City 116 intersections have been equipped with the devices over the past two and a half years, making San Francisco the national leader on this important safety issue.

The May, 2009 issue of AccessWorld, published by The American Foundation for the Blind, includes an article about San Francisco Accessible Pedestrian Signals written by Lainey and Jessie Lorenz. Jessie is the Director for Public Policy and Information at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco. In this post we invite you to share your experience with APS.

The press release about Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) was issued as a result of a Settlement Agreement negotiated by Lainey and co-counsel Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations. Claimants in the San Francisco APS case were the California Council of the Blind, the San Francisco based LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco, and blind advocate Damien Pickering. The full Settlement Agreement is posted in the Accessible Pedestrian Signals Settlements Category.

The Settlement Agreement about Accessible Pedestrian Signals with the City and County of San Francisco was the first in the country to address this critical pedestrian safety issue. The agreement, in which the City agreed to spend at least 1.6 million dollars and install APS at at least 80 intersections, was negotiated by Lainey and co-counsel Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations. Claimants in the case were the California Council of the Blind, the San Francisco based LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco, and blind advocate Damien Pickering. As exhibits to the Settlement Agreement, the parties negotiated Technical Specifications and a detailed tool to help public entities prioritize intersections for APS installation. Contact us if you would like a copy of the tool.