Of all the services and programs that help seniors "age in the community" instead of in nursing homes, public transportation is the most important. For seniors who can no longer drive, it is their vital link to the world outside their homes. It connects them with essential services such as medical care and food shopping. But it also links them with many more activities, including social events, volunteer opportunities, lifelong learning and even employment.
We must keep public transportation affordable for seniors and persons with disabilities. Federal law recognizes this by mandating that all public transit systems must offer reduced fares to these populations during off-peak hours. Today, after years of struggle led by the RI Gray Panthers, the Rhode Island General Assembly provides for free RIPTA bus service for low-income seniors and disabled persons, as well as reduced-fare bus service for all seniors and disabled persons in off-peak hours. The "ticket" for this service is a special bus pass that costs $5.00 and must be renewed every five years. About 10,000 seniors and disabled persons use this discounted service annually to take 3,874,806 trips.
Facing a budget deficit, RIPTA has now brought forward several proposals that will make public transit more costly for seniors, particularly those who are low-income. These proposals include: (1) a 400% increase in the cost of a bus pass, to $25; (2) a $25 fee to replace a damaged pass (currently free); 3) increased fees for replacing lost or stolen cards, ranging from $25 to $45; and (4) a 30-day waiting period for obtaining a replacement card (currently no waiting period).
At a public hearing on December 17, the RIPTA Board of Directors heard loud and clear opposition to these changes from a number of groups, including the Senior Agenda Coalition, Gray Panthers of RI, AARP, and the Governor's Commission on Disabilities, as well as from a number of consumers. Even RIPTA's own Consumer Advisory Committee spoke against them, suggesting an increase in the cost of a pass to $10.
RIPTA's Deputy Manager Henry Kinch conceded that the increased fees were needed to help make up the deficit, not just to cover the cost of the cards. He said the increased costs for replacement cards and the 30-day replacement period were needed to reduce reselling of cards, but he could provide only anecdotal information on the prevalence and cost of that problem. He also revealed that RIPTA is introducing new passes containing personal identification information that will be scanned when someone boards a bus. It seemed clear that this technology would eliminate abuse because a card identified as lost or stolen could have its identifier made invalid on the system, rendering it worthless.
The Senior Agenda Coalition believes that a 400% increase from $5 to $25 for a new or renewed card is an unconscionable tax increase, seeking to balance the RIPTA budget on the backs of some of our most vulnerable and needy citizens. The huge increase in the costs of replacement cards disregards the obvious fact that these customers include many people with visual and cognitive disabilities who may be more likely to misplace their cards. The 30-day waiting period for a new card is just plain mean, worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge.
"Death by a thousand cuts" describes what's been happening to services for Rhode Island 's seniors. When you add these RIPTA increases to $2 per trip co-pays for the RIde para-transit service, 50% reductions in state funding for respite care and other home and community-based services, and cuts in senior centers' funding, all of these "small" costs are adding up to a very big hit on many seniors' bottom lines. It now seems inevitable that the Governor will soon propose a supplemental budget that will contain many more of these "small" tax increases that will hit seniors even harder.
The RIPTA Board of Directors is scheduled to vote on these proposals at its January or February meeting. Anyone who is concerned should write to RIPTA Chairperson John Rupp at Textron, 40 Westminster St., Providence 02903 . (E-mail jrupp@textron.com ). We need better public transportation for our seniors, not reduced access to our present system.