Abstract: A wheelchair boarding system for buses and vans utilizing a cantilevered platform having an arcuate path of motion between a storage position inside the vehicle and a grounded position outside the vehicle. The platform is extended and retracted by a parallel bar linkage and track system driven by an electric motor and chain drive linkage. Provision is made for securing the wheelchair on the platform and for safeguarding the area around the lift system in the interior of the vehicle when the platform is in its extended position. Master controls are provided at the driver's console, and lift controls are located in an exterior panel on the vehicle adjacent the door to the lift system.