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.
How to Save $50 Million a Year …and Improve Access-A-Ride
September 16, 2009
An estimated 60,000 wheelchair-users live in New York City, but only 238 of the 13,000 medallion yellow cabs (less than 2%) are able to accommodate a wheelchair passenger. This is an every day reality for wheelchair users who are often left stranded without access to a key element of New York City’s transportation infrastructure. To address this unequal access to transportation, I sponsor a bill (A.7842/S.4861) with State Senator Tom Duane to require that by 2011, all taxicabs in New York City are accessible to people with disabilities.
My Op-Ed, “Escape from Access-A-Ride,” in the New York Post on Saturday, September 12th pointed out that having a 100% accessible taxi fleet doesn’t just make sense from a civil rights perspective — it could also save millions of dollars for the Access-A-Ride program. These are costs borne by the cash-starved City and MTA budgets. And, not only could we save public dollars, we could do all this and provide a better service for paratransit consumers.
Major Victory in Access-A-Ride Fare Fight!
March 23, 2009
As you may have read in this morning’s NY Daily News (”MTA backtracks on huge Access-A-Ride hike” 3/23/09), the MTA has shelved its disastrous, discriminatory, and illegal plan to raise the paratransit fare from $2 to $5 (or $10 for a round-trip).
Regular readers know that I have blogged about this before (”VIDEO: New Bill Prevents MTA from Raising Access-A-Ride Fare to $5“) and earlier this month I held a press conference with Senator Tom Duane to announce our legislation (A.6489/S.2933) that prohibits a transit authority from discriminating against people with disabilities in their fare structure. This bill codifies in law what the MTA has already promised in a written 1993 contract with New York City never to increase the fare for Access-A-Ride higher than the regular fare. Had the $5 fare passed, we would have had to sue to get that contract enforced.
I am pleased that the MTA has finally got the message that discrimination is not acceptable in New York. But to make sure that we never repeat this fiasco, I am continuing to fight to get the legislation enacted.
A statement I released today can be found in the Publications section of my website.
VIDEO: New Bill Prevents MTA from Raising Access-A-Ride Fare to $5
March 9, 2009
Video of Sunday, March 8th press conference announcing paratransit fare equity legislation with Sen. Tom Duane, Comptroller Bill Thompson, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Advocates representing the following groups also attended: United Spinal Association, United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, MS Society of NYC, Disabilities Network of NYC, Disabled in Action, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, and the 504 Democratic Club. (Note: Some additional video footage of advocates speaking was unplayable; my apologies!)
When the MTA began operating Access-A-Ride in 1993, during the Dinkins Administration, they signed a written agreement with the City of New York promising never to raise the fare above what they charged regular mass transit users. This fall, the MTA decided to break that covenant and put forward a proposal to charge Access-A-Ride users double what they have proposed to charge everyone else. Right now, when someone with a disability uses Access-A-Ride, they pay $2; the same as when someone takes the subway or rides the bus. If the MTA has their way, straphangers will be paying up to $2.50 — a burden enough for the larger New Yorker riding public — but people with disabilities who rely on Access-A-Ride are expected to pay $5.
This is discrimination, plain and simple. Unbelievably, it is 2009 and a public agency is singling out a class of people and saying, “You should pay more based on who you are.” If this was being done to people based on their race or their gender there would be widespread outrage. But sadly, discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities are so deeply ingrained in our society that people still need to be reminded that it is wrong.
This week, Senator Tom Duane and I are introducing legislation to force the MTA to keep their word about treating people with disabilities fairly. Our bill prevents any transportation authority in New York State from raising paratransit fares higher than what they charge regular transit users.
It is sad that this is necessary. At the MTA’s budget hearings we saw hundreds of wheelchair users and other people with severe disabilities braving a difficult commute to tell the MTA that a $5 fare would sentence them to isolation. Articulate and passionate advocates stood before the MTA Board and reminded them of the contract they made with the City of New York and admonished them to keep their word. But the MTA hasn’t changed its mind; instead, it has dug in its heels and decided to balance their budget on the backs of the riders who can least afford it.
We will not allow this to happen. As a person with a mobility impairment myself, and as a legislator, I will not sit back and watch the MTA implement a fare structure that discriminates against a class of New Yorkers. New York has a proud tradition of equality and opportunity for all, and together we can ensure that this continues. We will not allow the MTA to use this fiscal crisis to leave the frail elderly and riders with disabilities stranded.
The New York Post ran an article (”Don’t Hike Disabled Fares: Pols” 3/7/09) about this legislation last weekend.
Fighting for the Rights of People with Disabilities
January 17, 2009
As many of you know, advocating on the issues that impact people with disabilities is very important to me. Last week was very busy on the disabilities rights front, and I wanted to give a brief update about what I’ve been up to.
On January 14th, I testified at the MTA hearing in Manhattan in opposition to the fare hikes and service cuts being proposed. I urged to give the state legislature and the federal government the time we need to come up with the funds that are needed. Paramount in my testimony was my opposition to fare hikes proposed for Access-A-Ride riders. While the MTA is considering raising the fare for those straphangers who are physically able to use the regular mass transit system by as much as 50% (from $2 to as much as $3), they are asking riders with disabilities to absorb an outrageously disproportionate fare increase of as much as 300% (from $2 to as much as $6).
Affordable and accessible transportation is a lifeline for people with disabilities and the frail elderly. 64% of Access-A-Ride users have total household incomes at less than 250% of the federal poverty level. It is a matter of simple mathematics. The many riders who depend on Access-A-Ride will literally be unable to leave their homes under this proposed fare structure. My testimony can be found in the Publications area of my website.
I am pictured here with Paul B. Feuerstein, Board Chair of the Disabilities Network of NYC and President/CEO of Barrier Free Living
(left) and Lawrence Carter-Long, Executive Director of DNNYC (right). Note: We are standing in front of the VISIONS banner, the organization which hosted the meeting. VISIONS is a tremendous organization serving and advocating for people who are blind or visually impaired.
I had the great pleasure of addressing the Disabilities Network of New York City at their visioning meeting on January 15th. This is a truly diverse organization representing people with physical, vision, and hearing disabilities. The community gathering’s purpose was to determine the shared vision for advocacy goals of DNNYC. I delivered welcoming remarks at the event. Here is a brief snippet of those remarks:
As someone with a mobility disability myself, I understand from firsthand experiences the myriad of challenges that people with disabilties face. We need to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to transportation options that serve them and the MTA and the TLC won’t do this without our continued advocacy and creative thinking. We need to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to affordable, comprehensive, and quality health care. And this will not happen without our vigilance and persistence. The secret of effective politics is participation. That’s it. And is must come from people with disabilities in order for our issues to be at the forefront. It is the task and the responsibility of everyone here to make your voice heard by those that represent you, be they in City Hall, Albany or Washington, DC.
We are not an insignificant minority that can brushed aside. We are 20% of the general population and the attention the media has given to our issues while increasing, has never matched our numbers.
In less than a week we will be witnessing a changing of the guard in Washington, DC and last week we saw one in Albany —now is the time for DNNYC to make a coordinated effort to ensure we leverage our community’s growing political strength.
If you are interested in getting involved in advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, I highly recommend giving your time to this important organization.
Assembly Member Alan Maisel and I talking about health policy with PJ Weiner, Manager of Advocacy Programs for the MS Society of NYC (far right) and Robin Einbinder, Vice President of the MS Society of NYC (second from the right).
After the DNNYC event, I headed over to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New York City inaugral legislative reception. I had the great honor of being asked to co-host this event. An impressive gathering of members of the MS Society met with their legislators including the newly minted Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Tom Duane, Assembly Members Linda Rosenthal and Alan Maisel, NYC Council Members John Liu and Gale Brewer, and representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, and Council Members Jessica Lappin and Oliver Koppell.
There were many issues discussed at this event, but paramount on the minds of the MS Society members I spoke to was the issue of Tier IV pricing — and the need for support for a ban on this practice in New York. The MS Society has worked with Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith on legislation that would ban Tier IV drug pricing, a bill that I am excited to support in the New York State Assembly.
The proposed legislation would ban the creation of a fourth tier in a company’s prescription drug pricing forumlae. In states where this has been allowed to happen, medication treating diseases such as anemia, cancer, MS, and hepatitis C are categorized separately from other prescription drugs and co-payments have amounted to up to 33% of the total cost of each prescription. Patients with chronic diseases are seeing fees dramatically increase to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per prescription per month. This can never be allowed to happen in New York and I am greatful to the MS Society of New York City for raising this important issue and working with the legislature to protect all New Yorkers from this unacceptable threat to access to health care.
Heartless Proposal by MTA to Double Access-A-Ride Fares is Discrimination, Plain and Simple.
November 24, 2008
I am thoroughly disgusted with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposal to double fares for Access-A-Ride users. While the MTA is considering raising fares for able-bodied straphangers by as much as 50% (from $2 to $3); they are asking riders with disabilities to absorb an unprecedented 100% fare increase from $2 to $4.
This past weekend, I joined Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, and Councilmember Gale Brewer at a press conference along with advocates representing Disabilities Network of NYC, Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State, Center for Independence of the Disabled NY, Disabled in Action, and the 504 Democratic Club. At the press conference we collectively denounced the proposed fare hike. Access-A-Ride is critical to those who need it, and the revenue that doubling this fare will bring is comparatively unimpressive.
The current standard of fare equity is the minimum a just society should expect. Like a good old fashioned train robbery, the MTA is ambushing paratransit riders because they know that people with disabilities have no other transportation options. This is the most regressive fare hike the MTA has ever proposed because those who can least afford to pay are being asked to shoulder the greatest burden.
I am also not convinced that this is a legal proposal. The transportation provisions of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act cover public transportation services, like the MTA system. Public transportation authorities may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services. So if a local authority like the MTA chooses not to adequately serve clients with disabilities in its regular system, it is instead required by federal law to create a parallel paratransit system. Decades ago when the ADA was passed, the MTA chose not to make the regular transit system accessible (today there are just over 50 subway stations of 468 that have elevators), so it was required to create the Access-A-Ride service. It goes against the spirit of the ADA to charge people with disabilities more to use a system designed to compensate them for not having access to the regular mass transit system.
I will be doing everything I can to oppose this proposal and I will continue to keep you updated. My press release on this topic can be found in the Publications area of this website.
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