ADAPT Statement on Regional Transportation District Service Cuts

Recently, Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) held a hearing on proposed service changes, reductions, and cuts on a number of bus routes. Some members of the disability community feel that paratransit users should be exempt from these changes. RTD asked the disability rights group, ADAPT, to provide a statement to their Board of Directors of our position on service cuts and paratransit users.

It has come to the attention of ADAPT that RTD will be reducing, changing, or eliminating fixed-route bus service in some areas in the Denver and Boulder metropolitan areas. This will impact thousands of riders, particularly people with disabilities, who use those bus routes to go to work, school, shopping, doctor's appointments, church, and other activities.

At the RTD hearing held at 1600 Blake Street in Denver on October 4, 2011, a group of individuals from the Colorado Center for the Blind, users of Access-A-Ride, strongly opposed the proposed changes, suggesting that RTD "grandfather them in", as paratransit service to the affected areas would also be eliminated. They feel that without Access-A-Ride, they will have no other options for travel.

While ADAPT regrets the propsed cuts, which would also affect some of our members, we are vehemently opposed to, and offended by the idea of allowing paratransit users to retain their service while thousands of fixed-route riders go without. The vast majority of bus and Light Rail users are from low-income households and will also have no other means of transportation once those routes are eliminated. It is patently unfair to expect others, including fellow passengers with disabilities who are ineligible to use Access-A-Ride, to "suck it up" and "deal" while paratransit users are "grandfathered in".

All RTD passengers have the option of using the call-in service, available in most areas, to request rides (paratransit users with IDs ride free). Access-A-Ride users have the further option of calling a cab to get to their destination, paying the same fare that they would using paratransit. ADAPT has also suggested mobility and bus training specifically for passengers with disabilities who are affected by route cuts and changes, in addition to mobility training already provided by RTD. Passengers would learn how to reach their destinations using different bus routes or Light Rail lines than were previously used. This training would also be available to paratransit riders.

ADAPT members have put our lives on the line fighting for equal, not special rights. We fought for the right to use public transit, to be out in the elements with fellow riders without disabilities, and to "take our lumps" with everyone else when cuts to fixed-route service occur. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that paratransit service must be extended to 3/4 of a mile beyond either end of the fixed-route bus termination point. Transit authorities can extend it even further, including adding premium service areas, but are not required to do so. In the face of impending cuts, RTD has chosen not to extend the Access-A-Ride service areas, or to "grandfather in" affected areas after service changes, which ADAPT fully supports.

We look forward to working with the Regional Transportation District to ensure that our community has equal access to public transit without riding roughshod over the rights of fellow passengers by demanding special treatment.

Thank you,

The ADAPT Community