For Cortney Heely, every bus ride begins with a series of questions.

Will the wheelchair ramp work? Will the bus be too crowded? Will other passengers be frustrated by the time it takes her to board?

“Is the ramp going to work? Are there going to be a lot of people on the bus? Are they going to be annoyed that it’s going to take a while for the ramp to go and for me to get in position?” Heely said.

Heely uses a wheelchair and regularly rides NJ Transit’s 29 bus along Bloomfield Avenue in Verona toward Broad Street in Newark.

Her friend Carlos, who uses a motorized wheelchair, says he has many of the same concerns.

“Are we going to make it to our destination on time?” Carlos said. “We always have to leave an hour earlier because we don’t know if the bus is going to be running right, if they’re going to be messed up. It’s not a way of living.”

On a recent trip, Heely was able to board without a problem.

But she says getting on the bus hasn’t always meant she could get off.

“I’ve gotten on the bus and have been stuck on the bus,” Heely said. “The ramp doesn’t get me off and I’ve had passengers lift me off the bus. It’s very embarrassing; it’s degrading. You feel like less than, and your dignity is just ripped from you.”

Those experiences mean Heely says she can’t simply leave home and hope everything works out.

“I usually have to map out my plan and I usually have to have a second plan, a detour plan, in case something is not running right,” she said. “I have to be aware of my surroundings constantly.”

Heely has started documenting some of her experiences on her phone, posting videos to show what traveling can be like for someone with a disability.

“I posted mostly so people could see what the day in the life for somebody who’s disabled, who has to go the extra mile,” she said.

“We already do so much just to live an independent life. This is a huge part of our independence and everything should be accessible.”

Heely says she has called NJ Transit more than 20 times with complaints about wheelchair ramps not working or buses passing her by while she waits at a stop.

NJ Transit says when a lift or ramp stops working, the operator is required to report it to the Control Center. If the issue cannot be fixed, the customer will be accommodated on the next bus.

The agency also says that if a bypass is reported, it gathers as much evidence as possible and addresses the operator in a disciplinary hearing if warranted.

Heely has also tried Access Link.

While she says the service is helpful, she says having to book a ride a day or two ahead of time doesn’t work when she simply wants to go somewhere.

“It’s just taxing mentally and physically on top of it, so by the time I get home, I’m just done for the day,” Heely said.

For Heely, accessibility isn’t about making an extraordinary journey.

It’s about being able to do everyday things independently.

“Being able to get around and go to the store by myself and shop and smell fruit, feel fruit, pick out my own vegetables, cook for myself, cook for my kids and be able to just do the everyday thing that everybody else does,” she said.

For Heely, reliable public transportation means more than getting from one stop to the next.

It means independence.