For any person who uses a wheelchair and has waited for a bus on a bitterly cold or oppressively hot day, the level of frustration can be high.

	City resident Melvin Kramer knows the frustrations of trying to use public transportation. Kramer successfully sued the Port Authority over malfunctions in its services for the disabled. A forum on transit service for the disabled will be held tonight at 6:30 in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

Melvin Kramer, a 31-year-old paraplegic who lives Downtown, has been recording his frustrations in a notebook.

Each time a wheelchair lift or ramp fails or a subway station elevator doesn't work, he records the bus number and other particulars. After 200 malfunctions over a two-year period, he took the Port Authority to court and won the first round.

On Jan. 8, Donald Stancile, president of ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- was arrested by city police for blocking a Port Authority bus with his wheelchair in Garfield after it failed to pick him up on a bitterly cold night.

Tonight, Stancile will lead a forum at 6:30 in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse to explore issues related to transit service for the disabled, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

Port Authority officials fear the session will inflame the public.

Judi McNeil, Port Authority spokeswoman, said the authority is deeply committed to continually improving its service to persons with disabilities.

The agency has been upgrading its bus fleet, and has required its employees to undergo technical training to operate handicapped equipment, training on the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and sensitivity training so that bus drivers can respond better to service requests from the disabled.

"We take this very seriously," McNeil said.

But despite the efforts, lifts still fail, and drivers still pass by disabled people and get reported for being rude. The Port Authority's complaint system has also been called cumbersome and inefficient.

"Yes, we are not perfect," McNeil said. "Equipment breaks. Lifts malfunction. We are listening to concerns, addressing concerns."

Catherine McLean Armstrong, a new Port Authority board member, said she is not going to the ACORN meeting, but plans to hold her own meeting next week.

"It will be a strategy meeting to see what we do right and what we can do better," Armstrong said, adding that Stancile has been invited.

Armstrong, who is blind, said she has never received ill treatment from a Port Authority bus driver, but added: "I know there are things that can be improved, like driver awareness."

John Tague, 57, of Greenfield, who uses a wheelchair, said he thinks Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas and the top leadership are committed to improving transit services to persons with disabilities.

But sometimes management initiatives don't trickle down to the garages or drivers, he said.

"Port Authority drivers are required to cycle the [wheelchair] lifts and that is not always done. They are required to call out all ADA stops, but that is not always done," said Tague, vice president of the Allegheny County Transit Council and a member of the Committee for Accessible Transportation.

"I basically feel that it comes down to the individual division and individual driver."

Kramer, 31, became a paraplegic after an accident on Dec. 20, 1998. The following year, he started relying on buses and the light-rail system to get around and discovered all the frustrations, including malfunctioning lifts and ramps.

"I have been late for work, almost fired from a job, had to sit in freezing cold and heat," Kramer said.

He sued the Port Authority in 2001. In June 2002, a three-member arbitration panel found that Kramer had been denied access to public transportation and awarded him $10,000. The Port Authority has appealed the decision.

Port Authority attorney Nicholas Evashavik would not comment because the case is in litigation.

Kramer's attorney, Noah Fardo, said the Port Authority appealed because under federal standards, a person using a wheelchair can't collect damages until they prove that the Port Authority "intentionally" discriminated against them under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Paul O'Hanlon, a Downtown lawyer who rides the bus every day in his wheelchair, said the statistics Kramer used in his lawsuit don't sound out of line.

"Once or twice a week, I will have trouble with a lift that doesn't work," O'Hanlon said.

"What is confounding is that on one hand, it is really frustrating the way a bus driver puts everyone else on the bus but you and drives away. A lot of times, drivers do that and their attitude is 'So what. You can wait for the next bus,' " O'Hanlon said.

Despite the agency's shortcomings, O'Hanlon gives the Port Authority good marks for trying to implement ADA.

"I have found the Port Authority to be the best," he said.

"What I really value is their willingness to work with people to try to improve things."