06/10/2026
**Wheel Talk 📍 175th & Burke**
* Accessibility Report by Karma LiLoLa*
This is the Metro Park & Ride stop for Route 92 at Village Pointe in Omaha, Nebraska.
Village Pointe is home to Nebraska Medicine specialty clinics and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. I come here every three months for Botox injections through physiatry. So yes, this is a medical access issue.
But let's be clear about something else.
This stop also serves Village Pointe Shopping Center. Restaurants. Stores. Sometimes I just want to go to the Coach store. Is that such a big problem?
Disabled people are not only trying to get to doctors appointments. We are trying to live full lives. We are trying to shop, eat, browse, exist in public spaces built for everyone — theoretically.
👇 Look at this photo closely.
On the left: the bus stop pole. The Metro Park & Ride sign. A concrete slab. Looks like a bus stop.
On the right: the same bus stop — but now you can see what's actually there. A curb. And then steps. Concrete steps leading down to where you're supposed to wait.
Same stop. Two angles. One truth.
There is no accessible path to this bus stop from the street or the parking lot.
And this is the only bus stop at Village Pointe.
One stop. Inaccessible. That's it. That's the whole system.
I have to ask — is this why you never see wheelchair users at Village Pointe? Because they literally cannot get there by bus? Because the one stop that exists tells them, in concrete and stairs, that they are not expected to arrive? That they are not welcome?
The system is not broken. It is working exactly as it was designed. And it was not designed for us.
Now here's what I need you to understand, because this is where it gets complicated and also infuriating.
Your first instinct is to be angry at Metro Transit. I understand. That was my instinct too.
But I learned through self-advocacy and leadership training that bus stops are not always owned by the transit authority. They can be independently owned — meaning ADA compliance is the responsibility of the property owner. In this case, whoever owns the Village Pointe parking surface.
So the path to fixing this isn't calling Metro. It's identifying the property owner, understanding their ADA obligations, filing a civil rights complaint, and likely working with a civil rights attorney.
I know how to do this. I have the training. I have the knowledge.
What I want you to sit with is that a disabled person had to become an advocate, an investigator, and practically a lawyer just to catch a bus to the mall.
That is not an individual accessibility failure. That is a systemic barrier wearing the costume of a concrete curb.
😤 React if you feel this.
If you have experience navigating ADA complaints in Nebraska, know who owns the Village Pointe parking surface, or want to get involved — drop it in the comments or send a message.
United Spinal Association membership is free. Join at the link in bio and select the Nebraska Chapter.
