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 <!--break--> 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 &quot;public&quot; 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 &quot;cheap seats&quot; - 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, &quot;our revenues could drop from a big surplus to a huge deficit in a matter of 60 days. Our budget is very fragile&quot;. 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 &quot;hearing&quot; 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 &quot;Lie!&quot; &quot;Lie!&quot; (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 &quot;yes&quot;. 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, &quot;It costs too much!&quot; 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. &quot;We WILL be back!&quot; 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

<p>Approximately 40 disability rights activists from ADAPT attended the<br /> August 2, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester</p> <!--break--><p><a href="http://www.rochestercdr.org/events/2007_rgrta_protest.html">http://www.rochestercdr.org/events/2007_rgrta_protest.html</a><br /> (pictures available at above link)</p> <p>Rochester ADAPT takes on the Bus Company<br /> August 2, 2007 </p> <p>Approximately 40 disability rights activists from ADAPT attended the<br /> August 2, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester<br /> Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA).</p> <p>RGRTA's Board was scheduled to review a proposal from the CEO to<br /> expand the service area of Lift Line, the paratransit complement to the<br /> fixed route buses, at a substantially increased cost. Riders living in<br /> or traveling to the expanded service zone would be required to pay<br /> $6.00 in addition to the distance-based fare for the ride. For the vast<br /> majority of rides, this means $8.50 ONE WAY! </p> <p>While many people felt that this fare was unreasonably high, the<br /> disability community had been looking forward to an opportunity to<br /> discuss the proposal's strengths and weaknesses. What we got instead<br /> was a sham of a public hearing, held on July 26, 2007. Some riders<br /> received no notice whatsoever. Some riders received notice too late.<br /> Blind riders received print letters that were of no use. The hearing<br /> was not even advertised on the RGRTA website until the day of the<br /> event. And, adding insult to injury, the hearing conflicted with a huge<br /> event arranged by the Center for Disability Rights to celebrate the<br /> 17th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. </p> <p>With all this in mind, ADAPTers were very interested in the<br /> presentation that would be made to RGRTA's Board and the Boards<br /> actions on the proposal. When we arrived and tried to enter the Board<br /> room to view the "public" meeting, the first few people were allowed<br /> in, but then security stopped the rest. Security indicated that the<br /> room was already over capacity and no one else could be allowed in.<br /> There was more than enough room for the whole group to enter, but RGRTA<br /> staff cited the usual tired excuse about fire regulations as the reason<br /> why people with disabilities were being excluded. </p> <p>Over the next few minutes, they adjusted the room and allowed more<br /> people in, but many were still stranded in the "cheap seats" -<br /> outside, 96 degrees, very humid, looking in through the window. Forcing<br /> people to wait outside the supposedly public meeting wasn't enough for<br /> the RGRTA staff. Several staff then tried to close the blinds on the<br /> windows so those in the cheap seats could not even watch! ADAPTers<br /> inside prevented the blinds from being closed. </p> <p>We tried to hand out informational flyers to the commissioners, but<br /> were prevented from doing so. ADAPT members held the flyers upright on<br /> our laps, so that they could be seen. While ADAPTers on the outside<br /> tried to depend on watching the sign language interpreter to catch<br /> pieces of the discussion, ADAPTers on the inside sat through the<br /> doldrums of a standard Board meeting.</p> <p>In all their customer service data, they felt that the overall numbers<br /> were greatly improved, and congratulated themselves for that. As for<br /> finances, they reported an $8.1 million dollar surplus for 2006, and<br /> expected revenue of $94 million dollars in 2007. Still, they claimed<br /> that their assets were down to 79 million dollars in net assets. By<br /> far, the biggest part of their earnings came from the revenue generated<br /> by transporting Rochester School District students, but recently, the<br /> Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) ordered that this be<br /> stopped. RGRTA is fighting this because as one Board member stated,<br /> "our revenues could drop from a big surplus to a huge deficit in a<br /> matter of 60 days. Our budget is very fragile". </p> <p>They then got around to the Lift Line issue. </p> <p>Mark Aesch expounded on the position that they were going beyond the<br /> Americans with Disabilities Act by expanding the service area of Lift<br /> Line. He spoke of how they did not have to provide the service, and how<br /> the 3 million dollars in state funds could have been put into the<br /> general fund (our State Legislators will be thrilled to hear that after<br /> they got RGRTA the funding specifically for Lift Line), but they were<br /> doing the right thing. He spoke of the "hearing" that they held on<br /> July 26, 2007, and that 50 people attended (11 were social work<br /> students with no connection to the issue), five people presented<br /> testimony, and other people sent in written statements.</p> <p>Aesch and several staff presented reports, including some supposed<br /> testimony from Lift Line users who seemed to be in favor of the<br /> expansion, and the high price tag of $8.50 each way. Some ADAPTers<br /> yelled out, while others muttered loudly. There was a threat to move<br /> the meeting. Then a staff member named Carol began speaking of a<br /> meeting held with the disability community in May. Supposedly, leaders<br /> in the disability community supported the changes and exorbitant fares.<br /> She began naming names and one of them was our own Arlene Wilson. We<br /> erupted in cries of "Lie!" "Lie!" (and we have a letter we sent<br /> immediately after the meeting that documents our opposition to the<br /> proposal and proves that Carol is a liar). Once again, there were<br /> threats of moving the meeting.</p> <p>A couple of Board members asked questions and made statements that the<br /> cost of Lift Line should be cost neutral to the Authority; that<br /> taxpayers using the fixed route system should not be affected by having<br /> their fares increase. Audience members began coughing, clearing their<br /> throats, and snorting, clearly annoying the Board members. Aesch went<br /> on to say how the process of discussions and meetings with the<br /> disability community had been going on for two years, and that the cost<br /> per ride for Lift Line was $39.00 (until two weeks ago, he had always<br /> said it was $32), but they had worked to get it down for riders to<br /> $8.50 one-way. </p> <p>Aesch stated that money from the HONOR Foundation could be used to<br /> defray costs. After over a year, there is still NO money in that fund!<br /> We can't help but feel that HONOR was used when it was set up as a PR<br /> distraction from a Lift Line fare increase a year ago. Some<br /> commissioners seemed to want to hold off on voting, but Mark Aesch said<br /> that it would not be wise to do. One commissioner asked if they could<br /> still work on decreasing the fares even if they voted today. Aesch said<br /> "yes". Finally, Commissioner Tom Argust moved that the Board vote on<br /> the issue, and it was voted unanimously to proceed. </p> <p>ADAPTers were furious and began chanting, "It costs too much!"<br /> Members of the Board began leaving the room rather than face the fury<br /> of ADAPT members. Bruce tried to hand a commissioner a flyer, and was<br /> knocked down by an RGRTA staff person, who remarked that he had injured<br /> his back. Media, who were present, began swarming around taking photos,<br /> and shoving microphones in Bruce's face while he angrily explained<br /> what this Board vote meant to our community, and how it would devastate<br /> us. We chanted on, even as we went outside. "We WILL be back!" we<br /> chanted. </p> <p>For ADAPT, this is much more of a beginning than an end. We had tried<br /> incredibly hard to be diplomatic over the past two years. But instead<br /> of working with us to come to a solution, RGRTA held a slap-dash public<br /> hearing sham, got a trickle of the public input they would have gotten,<br /> and then even misrepresented what was said by our people! The gloves<br /> are off and we won't be stopping until that cost comes down! </p> <p>Anita Cameron<br /> Rochester ADAPT</p>