ADAPT takes on Bus Company

Approximately 40 disability rights activists from ADAPT attended the
August 2, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester

http://www.rochestercdr.org/events/2007_rgrta_protest.html
(pictures available at above link)

Rochester ADAPT takes on the Bus Company
August 2, 2007

Approximately 40 disability rights activists from ADAPT attended the
August 2, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester
Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA).

RGRTA's Board was scheduled to review a proposal from the CEO to
expand the service area of Lift Line, the paratransit complement to the
fixed route buses, at a substantially increased cost. Riders living in
or traveling to the expanded service zone would be required to pay
$6.00 in addition to the distance-based fare for the ride. For the vast
majority of rides, this means $8.50 ONE WAY!

While many people felt that this fare was unreasonably high, the
disability community had been looking forward to an opportunity to
discuss the proposal's strengths and weaknesses. What we got instead
was a sham of a public hearing, held on July 26, 2007. Some riders
received no notice whatsoever. Some riders received notice too late.
Blind riders received print letters that were of no use. The hearing
was not even advertised on the RGRTA website until the day of the
event. And, adding insult to injury, the hearing conflicted with a huge
event arranged by the Center for Disability Rights to celebrate the
17th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

With all this in mind, ADAPTers were very interested in the
presentation that would be made to RGRTA's Board and the Boards
actions on the proposal. When we arrived and tried to enter the Board
room to view the "public" meeting, the first few people were allowed
in, but then security stopped the rest. Security indicated that the
room was already over capacity and no one else could be allowed in.
There was more than enough room for the whole group to enter, but RGRTA
staff cited the usual tired excuse about fire regulations as the reason
why people with disabilities were being excluded.

Over the next few minutes, they adjusted the room and allowed more
people in, but many were still stranded in the "cheap seats" -
outside, 96 degrees, very humid, looking in through the window. Forcing
people to wait outside the supposedly public meeting wasn't enough for
the RGRTA staff. Several staff then tried to close the blinds on the
windows so those in the cheap seats could not even watch! ADAPTers
inside prevented the blinds from being closed.

We tried to hand out informational flyers to the commissioners, but
were prevented from doing so. ADAPT members held the flyers upright on
our laps, so that they could be seen. While ADAPTers on the outside
tried to depend on watching the sign language interpreter to catch
pieces of the discussion, ADAPTers on the inside sat through the
doldrums of a standard Board meeting.

In all their customer service data, they felt that the overall numbers
were greatly improved, and congratulated themselves for that. As for
finances, they reported an $8.1 million dollar surplus for 2006, and
expected revenue of $94 million dollars in 2007. Still, they claimed
that their assets were down to 79 million dollars in net assets. By
far, the biggest part of their earnings came from the revenue generated
by transporting Rochester School District students, but recently, the
Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) ordered that this be
stopped. RGRTA is fighting this because as one Board member stated,
"our revenues could drop from a big surplus to a huge deficit in a
matter of 60 days. Our budget is very fragile".

They then got around to the Lift Line issue.

Mark Aesch expounded on the position that they were going beyond the
Americans with Disabilities Act by expanding the service area of Lift
Line. He spoke of how they did not have to provide the service, and how
the 3 million dollars in state funds could have been put into the
general fund (our State Legislators will be thrilled to hear that after
they got RGRTA the funding specifically for Lift Line), but they were
doing the right thing. He spoke of the "hearing" that they held on
July 26, 2007, and that 50 people attended (11 were social work
students with no connection to the issue), five people presented
testimony, and other people sent in written statements.

Aesch and several staff presented reports, including some supposed
testimony from Lift Line users who seemed to be in favor of the
expansion, and the high price tag of $8.50 each way. Some ADAPTers
yelled out, while others muttered loudly. There was a threat to move
the meeting. Then a staff member named Carol began speaking of a
meeting held with the disability community in May. Supposedly, leaders
in the disability community supported the changes and exorbitant fares.
She began naming names and one of them was our own Arlene Wilson. We
erupted in cries of "Lie!" "Lie!" (and we have a letter we sent
immediately after the meeting that documents our opposition to the
proposal and proves that Carol is a liar). Once again, there were
threats of moving the meeting.

A couple of Board members asked questions and made statements that the
cost of Lift Line should be cost neutral to the Authority; that
taxpayers using the fixed route system should not be affected by having
their fares increase. Audience members began coughing, clearing their
throats, and snorting, clearly annoying the Board members. Aesch went
on to say how the process of discussions and meetings with the
disability community had been going on for two years, and that the cost
per ride for Lift Line was $39.00 (until two weeks ago, he had always
said it was $32), but they had worked to get it down for riders to
$8.50 one-way.

Aesch stated that money from the HONOR Foundation could be used to
defray costs. After over a year, there is still NO money in that fund!
We can't help but feel that HONOR was used when it was set up as a PR
distraction from a Lift Line fare increase a year ago. Some
commissioners seemed to want to hold off on voting, but Mark Aesch said
that it would not be wise to do. One commissioner asked if they could
still work on decreasing the fares even if they voted today. Aesch said
"yes". Finally, Commissioner Tom Argust moved that the Board vote on
the issue, and it was voted unanimously to proceed.

ADAPTers were furious and began chanting, "It costs too much!"
Members of the Board began leaving the room rather than face the fury
of ADAPT members. Bruce tried to hand a commissioner a flyer, and was
knocked down by an RGRTA staff person, who remarked that he had injured
his back. Media, who were present, began swarming around taking photos,
and shoving microphones in Bruce's face while he angrily explained
what this Board vote meant to our community, and how it would devastate
us. We chanted on, even as we went outside. "We WILL be back!" we
chanted.

For ADAPT, this is much more of a beginning than an end. We had tried
incredibly hard to be diplomatic over the past two years. But instead
of working with us to come to a solution, RGRTA held a slap-dash public
hearing sham, got a trickle of the public input they would have gotten,
and then even misrepresented what was said by our people! The gloves
are off and we won't be stopping until that cost comes down!

Anita Cameron
Rochester ADAPT