Access-A-Ride Riders Deserve Equal Treatment!
May 11, 2009
Today, I submitted testimony at the MTA Board meeting, asking the MTA to address the disparate treatment of Access-A-Ride customers.
The MTA doesn’t have a great record on this issue. Last fall, the Board proposed raising the Access-A-Ride fare to double the base fare for non-disabled riders who are able to use subways and buses. In response, Senator Tom Duane and I introduced legislation to ban unequal fares for people with disabilities. During the bailout debate in Albany, I made sure that paratransit fares wasn’t increased beyond the base fare.
People with disabilities are already at an economic disadvantage. 64% of Access-A-Ride users have a household income that is less than 250% of federal poverty; and 2002 Census data tells us that of people aged 25 to 64, 26% of those with a severe disability live below the poverty line, compared to 8% of the general population.
Yet while New Yorkers who ride the subways and buses are able to purchase MetroCards, Access-A-Ride users have to provide their fare in cash and in exact change. And while the rest of us are able to save money by purchasing pre-loaded cards with bonus values, daily passes, weekly passes, 14-Day passes, and monthly MetroCards, there are no bulk buying options for the people with disabilities who rely on Access-A-Ride.
To my mind, there is no good reason for this unequal treatment. It is discriminatory, plain and simple. That’s what I told the MTA today, and it is an issue I will continue to speak out on.
My full testimony can be downloaded from the Publications section of my website.
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- Via @MicahKellner + @MMViverito NYPD, never sensitive to Trans NYers, but if these allegations true its beyond the pale http://t.co/UGWWI9Tn
10 hours ago from ÜberSocial for BlackBerry
