Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to see if the stations you need are accessi-
ble. All MBTA
buses
have lifts or kneel-
ers; call
&
800/LIFT-BUS
for more
information. Some bus routes are wheel-
chair accessible at all times, but others
may require a reservation as much as a
day in advance. To learn more, contact
the
Office for Transportation Access,
Back Bay Station, 145 Dartmouth St.,
Boston, MA 02116 (
&
800/543-8287
or 617/222-5976, or TTY 617/222-5854).
One taxi company with wheelchair-
accessible vehicles is
Boston Cab
(
&
617/
536-5010
); advance notice is recom-
mended. In addition, an
Airport Acces-
sible Van
(
&
617/561-1769
) operates
within Logan Airport.
An excellent resource is
VSA Arts
Massachusetts,
2 Boylston St., Boston,
MA 02116 (
&
617/350-7713,
TTY
617/350-6836; www.vsamass.org). The
organization's
Access Expressed
network
maintains a website with a searchable
directory of cultural venues (www.access
expressed.net; click “Directory).
The
America the Beautiful—
National Park and Federal Recreational
Lands Pass—Access Pass,
administered
by a cooperative agreement between sev-
eral federal agencies, including the
National Park Service, the Bureau of
Land Management, the Bureau of Recla-
mation, the Fish and Wildlife Service,
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Forest Service, gives visually impaired or
permanently disabled persons (regardless
of age) free lifetime entrance to federal
recreation sites. Pass holders can visit
national parks, monuments, historic sites,
recreation areas, and national wildlife
refuges without paying entrance fees.
The America the Beautiful Access Pass
can only be obtained in person at any fed-
erally administered recreational facility
that charges an entrance fee. You need to
show proof of a medically determined dis-
ability. Besides free entry, the pass also
offers a 50% discount on some federal-use
fees charged for such facilities as camping,
swimming, parking, boat launching, and
tours. The United States Geological Sur-
vey (
&
888/275-8747;
http://store.
usgs.gov/pass/general.html) offers more
information about the interagency pass
program.
For more on organizations that offer
resources to disabled travelers, go to www.
frommers.com.
GAY & LESBIAN TRAVELERS
The capital of the only state in which same-
sex marriage is legal, Boston is overall a gay-
and lesbian-friendly destination, with a
live-and-let-live attitude that long ago
replaced the city's legendary Puritanism.
Two free weeklies cover New England's
GLBT community and feature extensive
entertainment listings:
Bay Windows
(
&
617/266-6670;
www.baywindows.
com) and the
New England Blade
(for-
merly
In Newsweekly;
&
426-8246;
www.newenglandblade.com). The alter-
native weekly
Boston Phoenix
publishes
cultural and nightlife listings (www.
bostonphoenix.com).
An excellent guide to local gay- and
lesbian-owned and -friendly businesses is
the
Pink Pages
(www.pinkweb.com/
boston.index.html). Other useful resources
include the
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender Helpline
(
&
888/340-
4528
or 617/267-9001) and the
Peer
Listening Line,
for people under 26
(
&
800/399-PEER
or 617/267-2535),
both operated by Fenway Community
Health (www.fenwayhealth.org); the
Boston Alliance of Gay and Lesbian
Youth
(
&
617/227-4313;
www.bagly.
org), which holds a general meeting every
Wednesday at 8pm; and the
Bisexual
Resource Center
(
&
617/424-9595;
www.biresource.org).
For more gay and lesbian travel
resources, visit www.frommers.com.
