In the April 25th edition of the Rochester Business Journal, RGRTA CEO, Mark Aesch, announced that the transit authority had “achieved the financial strength to actually cut fares for our customers.” The RTS bus fare was being rolled back to just one dollar, a price last seen in 1991.

What a great public relations opportunity! Business leaders, RTS bus riders and environmentalists all saw this as a very positive step.
Who could complain? Me… and I already had.

While attending the RGRTA Town Hall meeting on April 24, 2008, I learned that RTS fares were going to be reduced because over the years, there have been surpluses totaling nineteen million dollars. I asked Aesch about fare reductions for Lift Line users, and he told me that those fares would be reduced in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I’ve since learned that Lift Line fares inside the regular service area will be reduced to $2.00. Big deal. That’s the maximum they are allowed to charge by law. And two dollars is still a hefty fare to pay when most Lift Line users live on just $700.00 a month.

Many people in Rochester’s disability community are angry with RGRTA. We are angry because while the transit authority is trying to increase its RTS ridership or “customers” as they now say, it is actively discouraging people with significant disabilities from using LiftLine.

RGRTA proudly made its fixed route service more cost-effective for suburban riders, creating a flat fare system that allowed commuters from the suburbs to downtown to pay a lower fare. Although some people noted that by eliminating transfers, this actually increased the cost of riding the bus for some city users, virtually no one noted or cared that RGRTA also created a distance-based fare system for LiftLine riders.

RGRTA has also eliminated or changed its RTS routes to cut service for people with disabilities. RGRTA could have made changes that made their RTS routes more cost-effective and continued to serve many of the LiftLine riders by extending the LiftLine service area to one-and-a-half miles as allowable under the ADA. Instead they chose to cut back the LiftLine service to the minimum level, three-quarters of a mile.

Without affordable and accessible housing options, people cried out for help. RGRTA responded with “expanded” Lift Line service with an additional premium cost of $12 added to the round trip in addition to the distance-based fare.

RGRTA has proudly maintained its RTS fare for years and now is even reducing fares on its RTS system. But the transit authority has raised fares for people who ride LiftLine… and they have done so multiple times. I was told that in 1991, the LiftLine fare was just $1.25. Even with the LiftLine fare reduced to $2, that would still be a 60% increase.

The last time RGRTA increased its LiftLine fares, they promised to create a foundation to help offset the cost of the fare increase. As far as I know, there is still NO money in that fund! I don’t know a single LiftLine user who has benefited from the fund, and I can’t help but feel that the HONOR Foundation was simply being used as a public relations tool to quell dissent about the Lift Line fare increase. Even now, the RGRTA webpage for the HONOR Foundation is still “under construction.”

When the RGRTA Commissioners voted on the last LiftLine fare increase, they knew they were in a very strong financial position. Some commissioners seemed to want to hold off on voting on the proposal, but Mark Aesch said that it would not be wise to do. RGRTA officials even publicly said “the fee structure was set to avoid forcing up regular bus fares.”

Hold on!

That’s just plain wrong. Of course para-transit is more expensive than the cost of providing regular bus service. It’s a service designed to meet the needs of people with significant disabilities who can’t use the RTS bus. It seems that RGRTA wants this group of people to pay for the accommodation they need to use public transportation. Honestly, that’s as offensive as asking Deaf people to pay a premium at a doctor’s visit for the cost of the sign language interpreter.

Now, I’m NOT suggesting that RTS raise the fares, but the transit authority could have used part of its surplus to address the critical transportation issues affecting people with disabilities. And frankly, that’s what they had seemed to say they would do when they approved the last fare increase.
At that meeting, one RGRTA commissioner asked if they could still work on decreasing the fares even if they voted. Aesch said “yes”. Even Chairman John Doyle said the price could be cut if more revenues were found. Yet, even with more revenue it seems that RGRTA simply doesn’t want to address the needs of Rochester’s disability community.

If RTS bus riders are going to pay a fare that was last seen in 1991, it would be fair to charge Lift Line riders the fare that was charged at the same time. So I have to ask why RGRTA is rolling back fares for fixed-route riders, who are (primarily) able-bodied, and giving people with disabilities a bum deal?
The only answer I can come up with is that the RGRTA Commissioners and administration are willing to balance their budget on the backs of people with the most significant disabilities in order to give their suburban able-bodied riders a great deal.