ADAPT Confronts Rochester Bus Company: Lower the Rates or Face Our Fury!

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 Board's actions on the proposal. Read the rest of the article here.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Additional Information: Rochester Center for Disability Rights | Jumping in: A blog post about the RGRTA from The Roving Activist’s Blog