sometimes when we advocate, we focus on our needs and desires, rather
than considering how our community will resolve the concerns that others
like me have. While I have never ben bashful about seeking the spending
of taxpayer dollars so that people with disabilities can have
accomodations so that they have the *opportunity to achieve the same
result as nondisabled people, I am also mindful that an unlimited number
of choices and options serving every possible desire cannot e funded. I
encourage all to be sensitive to the cost issue in planning your
advocacy. Below is an example of this. first is an e-mail from
disability activist Carol cleigh, who serves on Metra's disabled advisory
commitee. the second is an article from saturday's Sun-times. In it,
only 150 people are identified as using the *limited paratransit service
at a yearly cost of $1.1 million.
kelly
ps: Jim F. who works at Blind Service is quoted in the article, near the
end. Good work Jim.
From: "W. Carol Cleigh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: Kelly Pierce <[log in to unmask]>
At 02:25 PM 8/30/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Is the figure correct in that article that $1.1 million is spent just on
>the 150 riders of rcap in the south Corridor? My trusty calculator says
>that is about $7,300 per rider on average.
>
Kelly, the numbers are accurate. Some of those are subscription rides, and
the average cost for RCAP rides was over $70. If you annualize daily rides
50 weeks X 5 days = 250 days X 2 rides per day = 500 X $70 per ride, each
subscription rider was costing $35,000 per year! We had about 15 of those
in South Sector (at one time) so the cost of subscription service alone was
$525,000. Since subscription service was about half of the available rides,
$1.1 million is about right. No wonder Metra wants to get rid of it if they
can. Considering that about 5 people in wheelchairs (and an almost
unlimitied number of people with other disabilites) can be accomodated on
the mainline on each train -- with a number of trains per day, and they will
add space on a particular train if needed, the number of people serviced on
accessible mainline will be far higher for far less cost than the RCAP.
That is the message that our community isn't getting. Ain't nobody 'gonna
spend the kind of money RCAP costs in this economy when they don't gotta.
Carol
South Metra lines opening to disabled
August 30, 1997
BY GILBERT JIMENEZ TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
Metra will open its south and southwest train routes to riders with
disabilities Tuesday, but some of those new riders say the change will
make getting around more difficult.
Getting in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the
commuter rail agency has so far modified 34 stations in its South
Sector to accommodate disabled riders. And each train has at least one
car with a wheelchair lift, an agency spokesman said.
Another 48 stops are not yet accessible in the rail corridor served by
Metra's Electric, SouthWest, Rock Island and Heritage lines to Joliet,
Orland Park and University Park.
But ADA compliance will make commuting more burdensome, and perhaps
impossible, for some disabled people, critics say, because it ends the
one-ride paratransit van service Metra has paid for since 1987.
``The law doesn't tell them they may not enhance service,'' said Palos
Heights resident Diane Looby, who has a visual impairment. ``It flies
in the face of the spirit of the ADA, and certain people can't use the
trains.''
Rene David Luna, program director of Access Living, an assistance and
advocacy group, says many have ``become dependent on [the old service]
and feel it is being cut out from under them.''
Metra settled a 1992 lawsuit by instituting the Rail Corridor
Accessibility Program (RCAP), a paratransit system to be a bridge
until the agency could make facilities ADA-accessible, said Sharon
Lamp, one of the plaintiffs.
As train lines in the North and West sectors become accessible, they,
too, will lose the paratransit service.
Under RCAP, the agency paid a private company to transport disabled
riders between their homes and downtown Chicago.
Metra spokesman Frank Malone said about 150 South Sector riders used
the service last year at a cost of about $1.1 million, about one-third
of Metra's total RCAP costs. He said paratransit rides sometimes cost
$180 per trip at a time when federal transit operating subsidies are
being eliminated.
``People will be able for the first time to ride these Metra trains,''
said Jim Ferneborg, chairman of the advisory Metra Accessibility
Committee. All committee members are people with disabilities.
``People who never have been able to get on a Metra train to go to
work or school now can.''
But the $1.75 trip will now require some riders to board at least
three different vehicles. If they live within a half-mile of a station
with no facilities for the disabled, they can get a paratransit ride
to the nearest accessible one. There they'll board the train to
downtown, where they may have to take another accessible van, bus or L
train.
Several fares will have to be paid, though.
Riders living outside the half-mile radius and those who will board at
accessible stops must reach the stations on their own. Before, they
all could take paratransit trips directly to their destination.
Pace, the suburban bus service, also provides separate ADA paratransit
services, but users must live within three-fourths of a mile of a
fixed bus route. Pace and CTA special services require eligibility
certification by the RTA.
But where Pace doesn't run--or when it doesn't run--neither do the
Metra paratransit vans.
Some towns and townships contract with Pace for Dial-A-Ride services.
The vehicles have lifts, but availability is spotty.
Ferneborg urges riders with disabilities to try to use the newly
accessible trains.
``I just believe there's a lot of fear out there ... a fear of taking
mainline transportation. It's true that some people can't use it, but
why wouldn't you take mainline transportation if you could?'' he said.
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