Special Assistance & ADA

We at ESCOT Bus Lines encourage customers with disabilities and seniors to travel with us. We are here to meet the transportation needs of all our passengers with the respect and dignity which you deserve. We provide assistance with boarding and departing the bus, special handling and transferring of luggage, and storage and retrieval of mobility devices and assistive aids.

Help Us Serve You Better

We can better assist you if you call us 48 hours in advance. Our sales staff is available to work with you to make your travel experience as trouble-free as possible. Please provide our sales staff with your specific assistance and/or travel needs. If you have hearing or vision loss, please let our reservations staff and drivers know so that we can provide appropriate assistance.

Our driver can better assist if you tell us what type of mobility device you have and how much it weighs. If you can climb steps and do not need a lift coach, we can more safely secure your scooter, wheelchair, walker or rollator in the luggage bay if we have details in advance.

Priority and Wheelchair Seating

ESCOT Bus Lines has designated Priority Seating at the front of its coaches for passengers with disabilities. If you need a priority seat, please advise our sales staff when you book your trip. Other passengers sitting in these designated rows may be asked to move if someone with a disability requires these seats.

Note: If you are sitting in a seat in a wheelchair securement area and a person with a wheelchair needs the space, then it is mandatory that you move as we cannot deny transportation to this individual.

Lift-Equipped Buses

Should you require a coach with a lift, please call at least 48 hours prior to departure.

Please be prepared to give us your contact information, if you wish, so that we may confirm your request. If you are unable to provide 48-hour advance notice, ESCOT Bus Lines will make every reasonable effort to accommodate you.

When you call for lift-equipped service, please be prepared to give full details on your mobility device, if any, including type, dimensions and weight. For safety reasons, sales staff may ask you if the combined weight of wheelchair and passenger is 600 pounds or less. Also, please advise us if you wish to transfer to a seat rather than traveling in your wheelchair or scooter.

Lift-equipped buses have two securement areas for wheelchairs. Once these areas are full, additional riders using scooters or wheelchairs can be accommodated only if they can transfer to a seat. ESCOT Bus Lines assigns wheelchair seating on a first come, first serve basis at reservations.

Note: To be accommodated safely on the lift, the passenger and mobility device must have a combined weight of no more than 600 pounds. The mobility device must be a maximum of 30 inches wide and 48 inches long.

Storing and Handling Your Mobility Aids

Smaller mobility aids such as canes or crutches may travel inside the bus in the overhead compartment or under your seat. If your aid will not fit safely in either of these locations, it will be stored in the baggage compartment under the bus at no additional cost. When booking your travel, we encourage you to tell us if your mobility aid exceeds 50 pounds so that we can provide a ramp to load the device.

Note: If you learn upon disembarking from an ESCOT bus that your mobility aid has been damaged or lost, please notify the driver immediately.

Traveling with a Personal Care Attendant

If you are unable to attend to your own personal needs and/or require assistance that ESCOT Bus Line employees are not required to provide, then we encourage you to consider traveling with a personal care attendant. On our scheduled service, the driver will hold adjacent seats to make sure that you sit together. Please give us advance notice if possible.

Note: Drivers do not provide assistance with eating, toileting or medical care.

Rest Stops

When the bus stops at designated intermediate, rest, or meal stops on the route, you may request assistance off and on the bus or other assistance such as retrieval of mobility aids.

Medical Oxygen

Medical oxygen tanks are permitted on the bus with a maximum of 4 canisters per passenger as follows: 2 canisters aboard the bus for your use and 2 canisters stowed in the baggage compartment. The maximum dimensions of any single canister cannot exceed 4.5 inches in diameter and 26 inches in height. All oxygen canisters not in use must have safety caps on the valves and must be boxed if carried as cargo. Passengers are responsible for ensuring that they have enough oxygen to complete their travel and are responsible for making arrangements for refills while en route.

Passengers are welcome to travel with Portable Oxygen Concentrators but are responsible for ensuring that they have enough battery power to complete their travel. When booking your travel, please inquire if the coach will have electrical outlets. If so, you will still need a backup supply of battery power.

Note: The maximum limit on medical oxygen canisters carried as cargo is 99 pounds. As we may not exceed this federal regulatory limit, passengers bringing oxygen containers will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis.

Medicine

All medicine should be in your carry-on luggage. Do not put it in your luggage under the bus.

Service Animals

Service animals are welcome to travel with the passenger with a disability as long as the animal does not occupy a seat or obstruct the aisle. Service animals must always be well-behaved and under the control of their owners or handlers, such as on a leash or in a carrier. ESCOT Bus Lines reserves the right to refuse travel to any animal which poses a direct threat to other customers or our drivers or employees.

Customer Complaints

ESCOT Bus Lines is committed to protecting your rights. If you feel that your rights as a person with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were violated and you would like to file a complaint, please send a written statement to:

ESCOT Bus Lines
Attn: Leah Ann Ingram
6890 142nd Ave N
Largo, FL 33771

Please include a detailed description of the incident, including the bus number, date, time and location, as well as the names(s) and/or description(s) of any ESCOT personnel you believe did not provide you appropriate assistance. You may also provide the written statement and accompanying information by email at support@escotbuslines.com.