Center Park is a subsidized public housing complex in the north Rainier Valley, designed to provide accommodations for people with disabilities. From the early 1970s, people living at Center Park had access to a customized Metro bus, nicknamed “the love bus” by residents, designed to handle 16 wheelchairs. In May 1993, Metro announced it would be eliminating the Center Park service to save money in its 1994 transit budget. In its place, the city promised residents expanded door-to-door service with vans and mini-buses, and pointed out that seven city bus routes travel within a block of Center Park. Center Park residents, many of whom used wheelchairs, were upset by the proposed change to their transportation routine, and some did not believe the promise of better service with the vans. They argued that the van service, which required a reservation a day in advance, would not be as convenient as their bus, and would not allow them to travel together on group outings. Many also relied on the “love bus” for the opportunities it provided for socializing, and for the independence it provided them; they argued it was a “way of life.”

Center Park residents attended Metro Council meetings, and held protests over the decision to eliminate their bus. This photo shows a group of Center Park residents protesting outside the Metro building in May 1993, asking that Metro continue to provide their customized bus service. In a June 3 vote, the Metro Council agreed to extend the bus service on a reduced schedule for a time.

Text on signs in photo: “Relieve trauma of sudden change for Center Park”: “Keep me going strong in society. Our bus affords independence”; Our lives depend on our bus! Please keep our bus!”

Caption information source: “Sercvic for project residents to be cut” by Mark Higgins, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 6, 1993, p. 18-19.
Caption information source: “Disabled bus riders win a partial victory,” Seattle Post Intelligencer, June 4, 1993, p. D2