RGRTA Service Map Restricts Services for People In Ogden Area

Take a moment and imagine this. Imagine that one day you are able to come and go from your home to where you want to go with no problem. Now imagine this you lose the ability to do that, however, you have paratransit services who, with three days notice, will take you where you need to go and back for between $1.50 and $2.00 each way. No room for spontaneity, however, at least you get to maintain your independence, go shopping with friends, go to your place of worship, doctor’s offices, grocery shopping, etc. Now imagine this. You call to make your reservation and are told, I am sorry but RGRTA has drawn a new service map and you are no longer in our service area. You must speak to a supervisor who is not in today, please call back tomorrow.

So you call back the next day and are told you now live in a supplemental service area. You are still eligible for services, however, now you can only call the day before and request a ride. If one is available, which supplemental services rarely if ever are, the new rate is now $7.50 - $8.00 each way. So now, you find yourself wondering how I am going to guarantee my employer I can get to work each day. Think about every place you used to go and now know that there is no guarantee you will be able to get there. If you can, it will now cost you 4 times as much to do it. It is as if the price of gas went from $4 a gallon to $16 a gallon.

Does this sound crazy to you? Well this is what happened to me this week along with countless other people with disabilities who access Liftline services. From what I have been able to determine, those who live between 531 and Buffalo Road and Manitou and S Union went from being in the service area to a supplemental service area with no notice. One day you have service, the next day you do not. Theoretically, we have supplemental service, but those of us who have dealt with them on a daily basis, know that getting supplemental service is a rarity.

For a segment of the community, many of whom are on fixed incomes, dealing with this increase in cost alone can be a challenge. RGRTA does have a foundation, which will assist you, if you meet the criteria, with the additional costs. However, that does not assist with the radically reduced risk of even being able to access services.

I am blessed in that I work primarily out of my home and telecommute with one of my jobs. However, I have had to step down from committees and away from presentations because there is no longer any guarantee I can be there to do them or to attend a meeting. I have lost clients from my private practice because they also use Liftline and cannot afford the additional cost to come to and from my home because I am in a supplemental service area.

This is my story, or a part of it, but I am just one of countless people in this area who have been left with limited to no ability to maintain their independence outside of their homes. The decision to reduce services to this entire geographic region is resulting in impacts on this group of people, which include economic, political, social, spiritual, emotional, and mental. This decision does not just affect us as individuals, but all those places with which we would have interacted or done business.

Is what happened to me and others legal? Yes. Is it ethical, just, loving or fair? No. The problem is that most people, including people with disabilities are unaware of what is happening until it has happened. Freshman NY Assemblyman Harry Bronson sponsored the RGRTA Notification Bill, which passed the Assembly, but not the Senate, which would have required public forums, and 30 days notification before changes could take effect, so situations like this would and could not happen.

RGRTA would say they do provide public forums and town meetings, however, it is common knowledge that people with disabilities are often times afraid to appeal decisions made against them or speak out against reduction of services, increases in fares etc out of fear of loss of services or other sanctions against them. In all honesty, many have suggested to me that I not speak out, as I might never be able to get a supplemental ride, which I can’t afford anyway. However, one of the things I have always known is that abusers pray for your silence be it individual or systemic. I refuse to be silenced when my basic human rights are being trivialized and denied. The very act, which was passed to support the independence and human dignity of Americans with Disabilities, is now being used as a way of denying independence.

Long-term plans are in place by local organizations to try to bring about a change, but that may take years. In the meantime, others like me are paying the price on a daily basis whether we are able to get on the bus or not.

The ironic thing about this whole situation is that the very Liftline buses I can no longer easily or readily access are the same buses, which pass by my neighborhood on their way to South Union Street in Spencerport to pick people up or go to SUNY Brockport, as these are not in the supplemental service area. It the service map was thought of as a donut, the donut would be served. However, the space between the sides of the donut, the hole, would be ignored as if it does not exist, but it does.

It is time for those who are temporarily non-disabled to join with people with disabilities as allies just as people have joined forces before to work for human and civil rights. So what can you do? For one, call the Center for Disability Rights and ask how you can be of service? Lobby your Assemblymen and Senators to pass the RGRTA Notification Act. Speak about the rights of people with disabilities in your local places of worship; promote awareness of this issue amongst your friends, colleagues, and organizations. Why should you do this; because it is the right thing to do. Need a more personal reason – tomorrow you might need the very services I am fighting for at this point in my life.

Rev Dr. Sharon Jacobson
Inspiritual
25 Bernie Lane
Rochester, NY 14624
585-729-6113