GILROY—Owners of a new shuttle bus company vowed this week to serve disabled passengers after a former member of Gilroy’s Physically Challenged Board of Appeals fired off a scathing complaint to the city council seeking action.
Citing last week’s 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Casey Estorga in his letter alleged that the company, Bounce Buses, “is refusing to provide equal access to” disabled persons.
After speaking with company co-founder Joe Eckardt, Estorga, 31, said, “His idea for an accommodation was not reasonable and in some respects was so insulting that it was clear his company had no intention of serving the full community.”
To the council, Estorga wrote, “I hope you can see how shockingly unacceptable this type of discriminatory approach to doing business sincerely is.”
Born and raised in Gilroy, Estorga now lives in Willow Glen. He said that his advocacy for the disabled comes out of family experiences.
In interviews Tuesday, Eckardt and co-owner Eric Morhenn said they will do all that is necessary and reasonable under the ADA to serve disabled persons, including providing a separate vehicle and driver if necessary.
The bus initially being used in the new service, scheduled to start from South County to Silicon Valley on Aug. 3, has a wheelchair compartment, but it does not have a wheelchair lift; if necessary, lift-equipped buses will be put into service, they said.
The company website will allow customers to alert them that special accommodation is required.
“When booking any ticket there is a prompt for the passenger to notify us if they need special assistance,” Morhenn said in an email. It can be found at www.bouncebuses.com/book-now/.
While the partners noted that Santa Clara County offers a free transportation service for disabled persons, they acknowledged the ADA requires that they make reasonable accommodations for the disabled, whether they are wheelchair-bound or disabled in other ways.
On Monday, the company expects to begin round trip private bus rides from Morgan Hill and Gilroy to San Jose and Santa Clara, for prices ranging from $7.50 to $14 each way, with discounts for monthly tickets.
More information on the shuttle service, including schedules, stops and ticket prices, is at bouncebuses.com.
