The Senior Agenda Coalition believes it is vitally important that our elders retain their dignity and independence through "aging in community". This means that our seniors must not only have access to services that will enable them to stay in their own homes as long as possible, but also, and this is very important, to remain active and engaged in the community through activities such as volunteering, life-long learning, and part-time work.

Mobility through access to transportation is the most essential single component of successful "aging in community".

RIPTA is facing a budget deficit of an estimated $12 million, caused not by declining ridership, but rather by increasing fuel costs and declining revenues from the gasoline tax. Indeed, bus ridership has been increasing as more drivers shift to mass transit due to soaring gasoline prices. RIPTA's solution to the problem has been to propose a major reduction in service, possibly beginning in January 2009. RIPTA proposes elimination of some routes, shortening others, providing less service on some routes, and eliminating all service after 7:00 PM. If enacted, these cuts will have a variety of negative effects for seniors.

A strong public transportation system is especially important for our state's 150,000 senior citizens. As we all age there is a natural increase in limitations on mobility and sensory capabilities that leads seniors to stop driving. For example, 15 percent of Rhode Islanders aged 65 and over have a "go outside the home" disability. An estimated 22 percent of Rhode Island 's seniors do not have driver's licenses. For those who are still driving at age 70, most will stop driving at some point with men spending an average of six years dependent on other sources for transportation and women 10 years transportation-dependent. To maintain their independence and connection to their communities, RI elders need public transportation options through both fixed routes and para-transit services.

Rhode Island 's seniors and persons with disabilities, especially those who are low-income or without a family support system, depend heavily on public transportation. In fiscal year 2006, RIPTA provided about 3.4 million half-fare and no-fare rides to seniors and persons with disabilities and close to 10,000 used the RIDE program. About half of those using RIDE were persons age 65 and over.

In addition to the more obvious effects of these service reductions on the overall mobility of seniors and persons with disabilities, they will create other problems related to seniors' services. To give two examples:

• Proposed changes in RIPTA bus service will affect Rhode Island 's seniors using ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) transportation due to the current rules that ADA service is only offered within a ¾ mile corridor of fixed-route service. Persons affected include those using ADA service for urgent and critical medical appointments when they do not meet the Department of Elderly Affairs' two-week notice for using the RIDE program and also those depending on ADA service for transportation to adult day centers because they are outside the DEA catchment areas.
• Eliminating service as proposed will also affect some of the employees who work in nursing homes and other vital programs that serve our seniors. Some of them must rely on public transportation to get to their jobs, and will no longer be able to do so. This will only exacerbate the problem that agencies providing care to seniors already have in recruiting and retaining direct care staff.

The Senior Agenda Coalition recognizes the serious budget deficit RIPTA and the state face. We commend the steps RIPTA has taken administratively to reduce its spending. However, with ridership growing we believe now is not the time to make dramatic service cuts. We concur with the case made by the Sierra Club that RIPTA's heavy reliance on the gasoline tax has inherent problems that reduce revenues at times of increased demand for public transportation due to a rising cost of fuel.

Public transportation is a vital service for many of Rhode Island 's most frail and poorest elderly citizens in myriad ways. It's time for our State leaders to step up to the challenge, to come together to creatively address funding and program issues, to look for greater efficiencies and alternative revenue sources which will sustain a high quality state public transportation system for the 21st century.

William F. Flynn