Adding a Wheelchair Lift to a Van or Bus

Do you need to add a wheelchair lift to your van or one of your wheelchair buses? Often, an organization will find itself needing to transport wheelchair users with vans or buses that were not originally designed with this capability in mind. Sometimes it is because they have a particular wheelchair user that must be accommodated. Other times, companies find that they need to add this capability in order to meet ADA obligations. In other cases, a non-accessible van or bus may become available to be re-purposed. Whatever the source of the need, the ability to add a wheelchair lift to an existing wheelchair van can be a cost-effective solution.

Is this the right answer for you? We don’t like to give the “well — it depends” answer, but it truth, it really does depend on a few important considerations that fall into the following categories:

• Age and Condition of the Vehicle
• Desired End-Capacity of Wheelchair Positions and Ambulatory Seats
• Style, Existing Modifications and Structure of Current Vehicle

Would it be Cost-Effective?

The responses to the points above will help us in determining if adding a wheelchair lift to your vehicle is a cost-effective option, or if you would be better served by buying a van or bus that already has a wheelchair lift installed. Adding a lift into a vehicle at the time that it is originally built is by far easier and less costly that to add it after the fact. At VCI Mobility, we want to ensure that it is all worth it in the end. A detailed inspection and/or review of photographs is always required before a final answer can be given but, the following should help you determine if this is a reasonable option for you.

Age and Condition of the Vehicle

If your vehicle is new and in good condition, then adding a wheelchair lift may be a good option. A new van or bus will still have a long service life ahead of it and you will stand a good chance of getting a return from your investment in a wheelchair lift. On the contrary, if the vehicle is older and/or not in good condition, it may not be worth adding the additional cost of a wheelchair lift. In some instances, primarily due to budgetary restrictions whereby obtaining a new vehicle was simply not an option, the total cost was lower when adding the lift after the fact.

In many cases, this is often true if a vehicle has been donated or is already owned and is being re-purposed. In these cases, the vehicle is often viewed as having no cost so the only cost is the price of the wheelchair lift modification. We recommend that you study this situation closely though, as sometimes it is better to sell or trade the non-accessible van or bus for a new or used wheelchair van or wheelchair accessible bus.

In addition, if there is damage or wear to the vehicle in areas that a wheelchair lift modification requires strength and support-such as the floor or walls, this may limit the ability to add a lift after the fact-especially if the vehicle has been in an accident. Typically this damage has to be repaired and adds to the overall cost of the modification.

How Many Seats and Wheelchair Positions Are Needed?

When you add a wheelchair lift to a vehicle, the wheelchair lift and the wheelchair position(s) will take up space inside the vehicle and always result in a reduction in the number of ambulatory seats you have available. While flip seats and folding seats can be used to maintain the highest number of ambulatory seats possible, there will always be a reduction. The reason for this is that you need room, not just for the wheelchair stations and the wheelchair lift, but also for maneuvering and allowing space for staff to both access the wheelchair tie downs and to retain some space in-between.

Wheelchair lifts that install under the vehicle are also available and take up significantly less space than internally mounted lifts. While they are expensive, many companies find that lifts that install under the vehicle are a good option for this purpose. If you have a 12 passenger shuttle bus and will always have twelve passengers, then adding a wheelchair lift is probably not the answer. However, if you have flexibility or less capacity, this may work for you.

Existing Modifications and Structure of the Vehicle

All vans and buses are made differently from each other and this can be the difference between being able to add a wheelchair lift cost-effectively or not.

A wheelchair lift usually requires a dedicated door that has significant structural support and is wide enough and tall enough to accommodate the lift. The reason for this is that the lift itself can weigh a few hundred pounds and usually has a lifting capacity of approximately 800 pounds. Such a significant amount of weight needs adequate support to function without damaging the vehicle or resulting in an unsafe condition. Higher-quality brands of shuttle buses typically have significant steel structures in the bus body that can be built upon in order to add a lift door and lift. However, for some buses, this requires building this structure into the bus and that can be cost-prohibitive.

For vans, adding a wheelchair lift usually requires a raised roof and raised doors. If the van does not have these features, they will need to be added. In most cases where the roof is already raised, a structural support cage needs to be installed in the wheelchair van to maintain the structural integrity of the vehicle when the body is cut to allow the increased door opening height. If the roof has been raised and the interior finished, this interior must be removed, a structural support cage must be installed, and then the interior must be reinstalled. Depending on the make and style of your van, this can either be relatively simple, or it can be incredibly time consuming and thus expensive.

VCI Mobility has added wheelchair lifts to many vans and buses over the years. In addition, there have been many situations in which we made the decision not to add a lift. All of the factors above must be evaluated and discussed in order to come to the right decision. In the end, we want you to be happy with the vehicle you have and know that you made the best financial decision possible. You can count on us to give you sound advice when it comes to this issue. If this is something you wish to pursue, the best bet is to bring your van or bus to our facility for a thorough inspection. If this is not easy to do, a detailed set of pictures and other information can often give us the information needed to estimate the cost of the job.