To go shopping seven miles from her Millvale home, Anne Nalepa has to ride two buses and spend about two hours to get there -- especially when the vehicle's wheelchair ramp is broken. A life skills specialist for the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living, Nalepa has used a wheelchair for six years. "Transportation for someone like me who cannot drive is very limiting," she said. "A simple errand can take up an entire Saturday." Ten years ago, then-Gov. Tom Ridge created a statewide initiative, called Accessible PA, to help improve access to transportation, housing, jobs and health care for Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Their advocates see progress, but contend a lot of work remains. "Unfortunately, more than one person is needed to create, pass and implement meaningful change," said Debra Stemmler, an administrator at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Assistive Technology. Bob Grove, a spokesman for Port Authority of Allegheny County, said nearly 98 percent of the wheelchair ramps or lifts on its 878 buses are working properly. If it is not, the driver is supposed to arrange for another bus to pick the rider up if that person would have to wait more than a half-hour. He said people who cannot use regular buses can reserve rides with ACCESS. That private company provides 1.8 million rides a year in Allegheny County and parts of the five neighboring counties. "I think Pittsburgh is comparable with the nation in that there is still work to be done," said Stan Holbrook, president and CEO of the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living in Wilkinsburg. The challenge remains getting government agencies and corporations to make significant changes that would help people with disabilities, said Jolene Craig, a mobility specialist with Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services in Oakland. She teaches people with visual impairments how to get around. "Complaints can take years to be acted on, and many more years before real change is seen," Craig said. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1990, remains a watershed moment for getting employers and government agencies to accommodate special needs, Craig said. What's lacking is consistent enforcement, she said. Shirley Gold, a member of the Consumer Advisory Committee to the Pittsburgh Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, said traveling Downtown is difficult for her daughter, who uses a wheelchair. "My daughter attended Summer in the City camp at Point Park and we had to stake out the one handicapped parking space (near the school)," she said "The sidewalks and entrances to many Downtown establishments are not friendly or accommodating to a person in a wheelchair." Voting remains a challenge for many people with disabilities, said Paul O'Hanlon, an attorney with the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania. Problems include steps leading into polling places, touchscreen voting machines for people who have limited or no use of their hands, political commercials without closed-captioning for deaf voters and political literature that is not provided in Braille for visually impaired voters. Allegheny County has only seven of 1,320 polling places deemed inaccessible, responded Karen Simpson, project manager for accessibility for the county's Elections Department. She said polling sites have been adapted with ramps, meshed mattings on uneven surfaces and bells that voters can ring for entry. Touchscreens can be removed from the cases and placed on a voter's lap or wheelchair-accessible table. "We're sincerely making efforts," Simpson said. "We're trying to answer all the needs." Staff writer Bill Zlatos contributed to this report. Matt Pavelek is a student with Point Park News Service, a joint project of Point Park University, this newspaper and the Richard M. Scaife Journalism Foundation.

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