Disabled riders among most affected by fare hike

Edith Prentiss, who uses an electric wheelchair, took a bus, three trains, and a ferry to get from Washington Heights to Staten Island for a Metropolitan Transit Authority public hearing on fare hikes and service cuts.

Prentiss, vice president of legislative affairs for the civil rights organization Disabled in Action, chose to make this four-hour, cross-borough journey holding onto straphangers rather than using the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program for disabled commuters as a statement against it. In the shadow of a projected $2.3 billion budget shortfall come 2012, the MTA is preparing to implement fare hikes and service cuts citywide within the next two months. Many fear that the disabled population that uses Access-A-Ride, a program already questioned for its effectiveness, will be hit the hardest.

Last November, the MTA’s budget proposal included a hike from the $2 fare for Access-A-Ride to $5, a plan that was met with aggressive resistance and was ultimately revoked in March.

Yet local Access-A-Ride users and transportation advocates said that this revokation is less than a victory.

Aaron Donovan, the MTA spokesman, confirmed that in the current plan, “Access-A-Ride will increase in tandem with the base fare of subways and buses,” which means $2.50 fares for everyone.

“They are going to feel the impact to a more severe degree,” Wiley Norvell, communications director of transportation alternatives, said. Norvell explained that when faced with increased fares, he expects that the average MTA rider will seek alternatives to public transportation such as biking and walking. These luxuries will remain unavailable to Access-A-Ride users.

“They are going to lose mobility,” he said, adding that he fears they will be “priced out of the system.”

Jason Chin-Fatt, a field organizer for the Straphangers Campaign, said that these riders are already at a financial disadvantage. “Many of them are on a fixed income,” he said. “They can barely afford it as it is, and they shouldn’t have to face this.”

Despite these kinds of objections, Donovan said that the MTA legally must have a balanced budget, and Access-A-Ride is an “expensive capital” that is “labor-intensive.” According to Donovan, fares as they stand now make up only three percent of the cost to keep the program running.

With financial support from the government in Albany still undetermined, Donovan said that the MTA was left with little flexibility. “We took the prudent action of balancing our budget in the absence of a package from Albany,” he said.

Norvell, who is hoping for Albany’s support, agreed. “The MTA has no choice,” he said, adding, “The fear is that they [Albany lawmakers] are going to punt.”

Norvell expressed an ironic optimism in the current MTA proposal. “The hope is that the cuts are so severe that we will gain the [political] support we need,” he said.

Jan Wells, associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, the coordinating body for three New York riders’ councils, said that unaffordable Access-A-Ride fares would have more than one consequence for its users.

“If they can’t afford it, they’re going to stay home. These people don’t use it just for medical purposes, it is about a quality of life,” Wells said.

She added that the system is inefficient, a problem that is only exacerbated by the currently “skyrocketing” growth rate of the program.

Prentiss said that she tries to avoid Access-A-Ride as much as possible. “It’s not worth the aggravation,” she said, adding, “I use the subway, I use the bus, I wheel. I am truly what they [the MTA] would hope the average Access-A-Ride user would be.”

Access-A-Ride is meant to provide transportation for people with disabilities who are unable to use the MTA’s bus and subway systems, but users like Prentiss often find it dysfunctional and impractical.

“You make the reservation the day before, hours before, and the fact is 15 minutes before the trip they start looking,” Prentiss said of Access-A-Ride’s taxi service, which has left her waiting for over an hour on multiple occasions.

“It is such a bad time, people are losing jobs,” Christine Henderson said as she waited for the M104 bus. “It is just not fair.”

Many local residents said that the Access-A-Ride hikes would significantly impact the lives of their friends.

“My friend is disabled. She has one leg,” subway commuter Barbara Sagan said. “She is on low income. She needs it.”

Mitzi Cohen, while exiting the 96th Street 1 train station, said that the proposed Access-A-Ride hikes were “unconscionable.” Cohen has a friend who uses the service to get to therapy. Considering that her friend’s dependence on the program deals with health issues, Cohen said that any fare increase is inexcusable. “It’s absolutely dreadful and immoral.”

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