(Markell image: National Blueprint rollout)
Governor Markell this year took on the mantle of champion for persons with disabilities "Governor Jack Markell, 2012-2013 Chair of the National Governors Association. Employing People With Disabilities is the Governor's key initiative." That his Secretary of Transportation would then spike bus fares for this population is not being taken lightly.
Joint DE Voice column today ~ Transit changes will be costly in time and money
Unintended consequences” is a term that comes up often when discussing public policy and those are especially apparent in the proposed redesign of Delaware’s paratransit bus system by the Delaware Transit Corp. In an effort to create what they call a “right fit” transit system, DTC has created two tiers of transportation service for people with disabilities, both of which impose significant and detrimental changes. The unintended consequence is that the new system, if realized, will counter our state’s goals of increasing employment for people with disabilities and encouraging community-based life. Delaware’s paratransit system currently provides door-to-door transportation for people with disabilities, making it possible for them to get to work, school, doctors, grocers and other needed services. For these individuals there is often no other alternative for transportation than paratransit. DTC now proposes that the availability of paratransit be limited to within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed bus route, the minimum required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plan also calls for a “negotiated” time for pick-up of up to an hour before or after the requested time, making it theoretically available but realistically impractical for hundreds of riders, who might not be able to safely wait alone because of disability or miss an hour of their shift or class.The intraagency battle for funding between regular route and paratransit ridership has been stirring within the department and flowing over into municipal Comp Plan discussions and across the intertubes. DelDOT lost an extremely talented employee this year, Delaware Transit Corp Executive Director Lauren Skiver, ostensibly as a consequence of the infighting.
Reliable, consistent pick-up times are a necessity.
Those outside the threequartermile zone will see their service replaced with an as-available transit system and a drastic increase in fares. By March 2015, these riders will see their one-way cost triple from $2 to $7. These service cuts combined with such increased expense will impede the ability of people with disabilities to participate in everyday life and meet their personal needs to an even greater extent than those in the three-quarter-mile zone. DTC has stated (though not in the formal proposal) that trips for work and medical needs will be given priority, but a priority is not a guarantee.
Prioritizing trips in that manner also disadvantages individuals who are training or looking for work, who are in day programs, or who need to go to the grocer to get their medicine.
Such unpredictability – a bus coming at varying times, not being able to keep a regular schedule from week to week – would be inconvenient at the very least for most people. For those with certain disabilities, it can seriously affect individuals’ work performance, requiring greater supports (at a cost to the state), and hurting their ability to keep their jobs – especially when working in the community. Transportation difficulties can cause people with autism or other developmental disabilities severe anxiety or injurious behaviors and over time, they might start losing the skills their families and schools spent years instilling.
DTC has said these changes will encourage people with disabilities to move closer to fixed route systems, but that assumption ignores the reality that disability often limits housing choices. Most housing is not wheelchair accessible.
Those without the financial, physical or developmental capacity to live independently must generally live where their families do. There are only 14 fixed bus routes in Kent County and two in Sussex (with additional routes only in summer), creating a very narrow area for those who need paratransit to live or work. Currently 79 percent of paratransit riders in Sussex County and 47 percent of paratransit riders in Kent County are outside that three-quartermile zone. And should DTC’s proposal be realized, even a person who lives and works within a three-quarter mile of a fixed bus route can still face a major change in their transit options and cost if that fixed route changes.
People with disabilities are one of the most underemployed populations in the country and in Delaware, a status our governor, disability agencies, and legislature have already invested political and financial capital in changing.
As an “Employment First” state, Delaware’s commitment is to further open the doors for people with disabilities to work side by side with employees without disabilities in the community. DTC’s plan could slam those doors shut.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that government must provide people with disabilities the ability to live in the least restrictive environment according to their need and choice. Transportation is essential for Delaware to fulfill that mandate. Living in the least restrictive environment is about more than work and doctors; it is about being able to contribute to and to engage in the community, including escaping the isolation so common among many with disabilities.
We recognize DTC needs to control costs and provide transportation options for all.
We appreciate their efforts to make fixed route buses more accessible through proposed travel training improvements and their recent sidewalk inventory. Their proposed additions of stops and times on certain routes will also expand paratransit, though to a very limited extent, and benefit those who can ride fixed routes regardless of disability.
It is completely understandable that fares will rise because they have not since 1989. But it is unacceptable for state agencies to counteract each other’s goals and leave people with disabilities to try to live with the contradictions.
It is unacceptable to so broadly slash transportation access to those who count on it to work, become taxpayers, and to live in the community. It is unacceptable to impose the greatest fare increase on the people who are experiencing the greatest service cut. If you care about Delawareans who need paratransit, contact DTC and your legislators to tell them this proposal is not the “right fit” for Delaware.
This statement was signed by Teresa Avery, Autism Delaware; Craig Crouch, Kent-Sussex Industries; Pete Dakunchak, Chimes of Delaware; Lisa Green, Salvation Army of Delaware; Kendra Johnson, Elwyn of Delaware; Colleen Morrone, Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County; and Ken Sklenar, Easter Seals of Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
DELAWARE VOICE
(News Journal) Melissa Nann Burke wrote this in mid-Sept. ~ Delaware considers changes to paratransit service, fares - Taxpayer subsidy hit $80 million last year
Delaware Transit Corp., a division of the Department of Transportation, is holding a series of public sessions starting next week to collect input on how the system could be improved – from new routes downstate to extended hours and more frequent trips. With feedback in hand, DTC expects to present a plan with specific recommendations in late fall. In the meantime, Bhatt is losing the counsel of DTC Executive Director Lauren Skiver, who has worked toward the initiative during her 17 months on the job in Delaware. Skiver on Friday accepted a position leading the SunLine Transit Agency in the Palm Springs area of California.
........Nationally, transit systems on average spend 11 percent of their budgets on paratransit. In Delaware, it consumes 45 percent of DTC’s budget, even though paratransit represents just 8 percent of total ridership, according to state figures. The expense stems in part from Delaware’s generous paratransit program, providing door-to-door, on-demand service to riders anywhere in the state. Eligible riders qualify because they can’t take a regular bus due to a disability. In Kent and Sussex counties, riders automatically qualify at age 65. Delaware’s statewide model exceeds the mandate of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires service only to disabled people living within a ¾-mile of fixed bus routes. A paratransit rider pays a $4 fare for a round trip that costs the state an average $92, according to DTC. Paratransit costs have escalated 233 percent since 2000, Bhatt said. “Thirty-seven percent of the rides that we provide are not required by the ADA,” Bhatt said. “There’s no other state or entity that delivers transit this way. We’re very much an outlier. The fact we’re the only ones, and that costs are what they are, tells us something.”
Several independent studies have recommended DTC limit paratransit service to the federally mandated zone and to individuals who qualify not by age but by disability........Dave Gula, a planner with the Wilmington Area Planning Council and a former DTC employee, said the growing paratransit subsidy has prevented expansion of fixed bus routes since at least 2001. “They’re always looking for ways to get new service out there, but they have no budget for new service,” Gula said of DTC. “That’s not a way to grow transit.” All DART buses are ADA-equipped, so longer, more frequent routes could benefit and accommodate many current paratransit riders, Gula noted..........DelDOT last proposed hiking bus fares in 2005 – from $1.15 to $2 for regular routes, and from $2 to $4 for paratransit. (By comparison, Philadelphia bus fares are $2.25 and $4 for paratransit.) Another option would have set a $6 premium fare for service beyond the ADA requirements. The changes weren’t adopted. A UD study in June suggested fare increases, among other cost-saving options. At that time, state Rep. Melanie George Smith, Joint Finance Committee chair, said lawmakers would consider fare hikes only if they were in the best interest of Delaware citizens and transit users.
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