Wausau MetroRide buses. Image courtesy: WAOW TV.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Bus riders in Wausau can now return to entering into buses through the front door.
After recent complaints to Metro Ride about ADA accessibility issues, the transit system has ended its back door loading protocol. The protocol was put in place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 by then Wausau Mayor Robert Mielke and Transit Director Greg Seubert.
At a special meeting of Wausau’s Transit Commission, Seubert explained to Commission members how there are a couple of different problems with the former back door loading protocol.
“Communicating that request [for front door loading] is difficult because of the positioning of the vehicle that is required. Sometimes it happens after they have been forced to load through the back door. The other issue is we cannot pull into the stop and ask everyone, do they need the front door. Because once the door is open people load,”.
Feedback from bus drivers on the proposed loading change has been fairly neutral according to Seubert. He also says additional COVID-19 precautions in place inside the buses make it safer for drivers to load passengers through the front door.
“We do have face mask policies in place. There is a federal mandate so regardless of whether the Governor’s order was struck down today or not we still have a federal mandate in place that we think is enforceable. We also have plexiglass barriers. So there are more protections in place than when we implemented this policy,”.
The Transit Commission approved the rescinding of the back door loading protocol on a 4 to 1 vote. The front-loading door on Metro Ride buses is the accessible door that lowers to the ground for riders who need it.
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