St. Louis County commission advances PSA, pushes for more accessible parking and improved transit access

The Commission on Disability for St. Louis County approved prior meeting minutes and spent much of its session refining 2026 goals, endorsing a public service announcement (PSA) on accessible parking and pressing for better access to transportation and cleared sidewalks.

At the meeting the commission reviewed a draft PSA written to explain "why accessible parking spaces matter for individuals with visible or invisible disabilities," and discussed target audiences and distribution. Sheila Sudarala, who drafted the blurb and visuals, said the campaign should be visible, credible and repeated across multiple channels to change behavior. She summarized the PSA imagery, including a photo with the message, "If you don't need it, please leave it."

The commission asked staff to arrange a meeting with county communications and the county police department so those offices can advise on messaging and distribution. Dana, the ADA coordinator, said she will set up a meeting with county police communications and encouraged including other departments that could help expand reach. Members also proposed printing posters for driver license offices and contacting the Department of Revenue for distribution channels.

Commission members suggested partnering with the Governor's Council on Disability or other statewide partners where appropriate; members noted the governor's council has an older PSA and that state-level coordination could broaden reach.

Transportation access and winter sidewalk conditions were a major thread of the meeting. Robin Wallen outlined challenges getting on-demand services adopted and reported pilot projects struggling for participation, saying the pilot QR-code system for visually impaired riders "hasn't gone very well" because "they're able to tell how many people scan the codes and pretty much nobody's using them." She and other members described persistent paratransit issues including driver shortages and delays that push people toward paratransit when fixed-route buses are inaccessible.

Wallen relayed findings from a Maryland Heights Disability Health Fair survey in which lack of sidewalks and inaccessible sidewalks during winter emerged as the top complaint. The commission discussed coordinating with the St. Louis County Transportation and Public Works and the Building Code Review Committee to explore requiring more accessible parking in new development, and members asked staff to collect current ordinance and ADA-based data before appearing at code-review meetings.

On procedural business the commission approved January minutes (moved by Cheryl Rose; seconded by Robin Wallen) and accepted February minutes with a correction to a mention of helmet-legislation wording; members who proposed wording asked that it be added to the record.

The commission set follow-up steps: Dana will schedule meetings with county communications and police staff to discuss the PSA; members volunteered to work on specific 2026 goals (including winter-accessible route planning and outreach to Metro and building-code reviewers). The meeting closed with members noting the next regular meeting is April 13.

The commission did not hold a public-comment period (no registered public commenters).