RIPTA considers charging disabled, elderly riders

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE – RIPTA officials are considering charging people who currently get free passes, like the disabled and the elderly, a half-price fee, making many riders upset.

The idea is being tossed around as officials conduct a fare study. They are looking into how to come up with the additional 1.7 million dollars in fare revenue budgeted for fiscal year 2016. It’s not known yet where exactly that money will come from.

RIPTA’s free and reduced bus pass program for the disabled, low-income and elderly cost the company $5.6 million dollars in excess revenue this year.

RIPTA officials say they have been asking the state for years to take another look at the Rhode Island law that provides free rides for elderly and disabled passengers who earn less than 200-percent of poverty level.  Federal regulations require that half-fares be offered.

A few opponents spoke out at a Board of Directors meeting Monday afternoon.

“To suddenly change it when people are struggling, especially the very low-income people, that would be a burden,” Barry Schiller of RIPTA Riders Alliance told ABC6 News.

Robert Powers of Cranston, a disabled man who rides the bus frequently, feels singled out by all of this. “It's ludicrous,” he said. “Anyone who has a cane, a walker, or a wheelchair is a target.”

Regardless of any changes RIPTA may make to the free pass program, those people remain eligible for Medicaid-subsidized non-emergency medical trips.

Officials are using the fare study to examine several ways to bring more money in, like charging more for bus transfers. Chairperson Scott Avedisian said it will be months before any decisions are made. “We need to do an analysis of where are we,” he explained. “Are we comparable with other like-minded size transit agencies.”

There will be chances for public comment before RIPTA makes any decisions, likely in the fall.

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