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Access-A-Ride Cuts Will Leave Disabled Riders Stranded

December 17, 2009

On Wednesday, State Senator Tom Duane and I gathered with disabilities advocates, for-hire vehicle industry representatives, and Access-A-Ride users in front of Selis Manor in Manhattan to oppose the MTA’s slashing of the Access-A-Ride operating budget. Access-A-Ride, New York City Transit’s paratransit service, is the only mode of transportation for people with disabilities who are unable to take regular mass transit.

The MTA plans to cut $40 million from its operating budget this year, and $80 million the next.

No written plan exists explaining how Access-A-Ride is expected to absorb these cuts. Transit officials have shared only that they plan to examine their “legal obligation to provide door-to-door services.”

Last fall I met with the MTA and proposed that Access-A-Ride users be issued debit or credit cards to use in New York City taxis and for-hire-vehicles. MTA officials said they liked the idea and would implement a pilot program. I first wrote to New York City Transit in February of 2009 to propose the concept. (See the Publications section of my website for both the proposal and my original letter to Howard Roberts.)

To my severe disappointment the MTA has yet to do move towards implementing this, despite the fact that the city has estimated that a debit or credit card system would save taxpayers $50 million a year in paratransit services—that’s $10 million more than the MTA says it must cut. I have heard from the for-hire vehicle industry that they are excited about what this could mean for their businesses, and they have already worked out a plan with credit card providers to make it work.

Instead of using this economic crisis to hurt people with disabilities who are dependent on paratransit services, the MTA should be seeing this as an opportunity to look hard at what’s not working and be innovative.

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Written by Micah · Filed Under Blogroll, Community 

Comments

One Response to “Access-A-Ride Cuts Will Leave Disabled Riders Stranded”

  1. Michele Kaplan on February 10th, 2010 2:18 pm

    Without Access A Ride disABLEd people such as myself will not be able to travel. Without AAR, I can’t get to medical appointments. Before I had AAR, I was pretty much confined to my home and my stoop.

    Anyone know of a rally being planned to protest this? Petitions?

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