Some Still Upset With RTA Chairman Gates Comparing Paratransit Service To Limos

CHICAGO (CBS) – There’s more criticism from within the Regional Transportation Authority over comments by the RTA’s chairman about its paratransit service.

The “limousine service” comment made last month by RTA Chairman John Gates in reference to the area’s paratransit service still sticks in the craw of the advocates on the RTA’s own ADA advisory committee, despite the board’s approval Wednesday of a measure that is expected to put 130 more accessible taxis on Chicago streets and provide better navigation on the CTA for the visually impaired and on Metra for the hearing impaired.

ADA Advisory Committee Chair Barry Taylor said the entire RTA board needs awareness training about disabilities.

“Even if you have experience with the disability community, we think having that training is really important because disability issues evolve over time,” he said.

That is especially important when it comes to terminology, he said. For instance, he said the term “mental retardation” now provokes outrage in many quarters and suggests use of the phrase “intellectual disability” instead.

Gates said he would consider such training and asked RTA Executive Director Joseph Costello to determine how it would be done. Board member Donald Totten suggested special taxi stands at downtown train terminals specifically for cabs equipped for those in wheelchairs.

Reporting Bob Roberts | WBBM Newsradio
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/11/14/some-at-rta-still-upset-with-chairmans-comparing-paratransit-service-to-limos/
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Previous post on RTA Chairman Gates comments:

Limo service? RTA chairman laments cost of paratransit

Article updated: 10/15/2012
Article By Marni Pyke
The Daily Herald

But before those dollars are awarded, paratransit is funded first — this year receiving about $136 million.

“It's a civil right. It has to come right off the top,” Gates said. “You send out a van every time somebody schedules one. The more volume you have, the more money you lose.

“It's not like other systems ... where the more volume you have, the more money you make or the less money you lose. That's the issue, and as the population ages and gets more infirm, the volumes go up faster than the rest of the system,” Gates explained.

“It's a limousine service, but it's a federally mandated limousine service that we have to provide,” he added. “The farebox pays 10 percent, we lose a ton of money. ... It's hugely expensive, but it's something we have to do. It's the law. It's a civil right.”


For the full article; http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20121015/news/710159935/