[Colorado-Talk] rTD Equity

Fri Oct 4 20:33:50 UTC 2024

I think that people concerned about paratransit equity check out the RTD fares on the link below. I did not mention the airport paratransit discrepancy before because a director brought it up in a board meeting last month. Just note that in the fare restructuring how much or little attention was given to paratransit. RTD did lower the paratransit rate because they had to in order to lower fixed rate to $3. The statute only allows for paratransit to cost no more than 150% of fixed rate. Our complaint is not that they need to spend more money on paratransit. Our complaint is that they should give comparable timeline and rational e for fares as they give all other riders. Also, paratransit should not be an afterthought. Paratransit fares and equity should be included at the same time as these other changes were made.

https://www.rtd-denver.com/fares-passes/fares

From: Claudia Folska, PhD <cfolska at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2024 2:25 PM
To: NFB of Colorado Discussion List <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jenny Callahan <jenny.callahan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Colorado-Talk] rTD Equity

Hello friends,

Regarding equity, the access ride van cost RTD $80 each way. So you can see why they are asking the writer to pay $4.50 the maximum by law but not a requirement at all. The access on demand RTD no more than $25 per trip. So the ratio isn’t equitable at all in fact charging the fees they’re suggesting is in equitable if you look at it from a ratio perspective. With regard to the Joscelyn of these vehicles, it is true and RTD along with every other transit company in America could actually get auto manufacturers to build them accessible from the start. As it is now what they do is take a truck cut out for the wheelchair lift and put a camper top on top and the chairs inside. It’s nothing more than a truck and the drivers are not required to have a commercial drivers license.  Kind regards, Claudia 

On Sep 27, 2024, at 1:19 PM, Jenny Callahan via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 There are two major equity issues that have yet to be addressed. One) the quality of transportation of the RTD paratransit bus that jostles us around like on a stage coach. 2a) the cap for paratransit users for the month is $540. The cap for fixed route monthly is $88. 2)b) the cap for the month for paratransit users who are at or below 250% of the poverty line is $270. The cap for the month for fixed route users who are at or  below 250% of the poverty line is $27.

Jenoise Holcomb, J.D.

 Vice president, Mountains & Plains NFBCO

Jenny.callahan at gmail.com

On Sep 26, 2024, at 11:19 PM, Jessica Pitzer via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

I wish I had gotten this survey. I'd be happy to fill it out. :(

On 9/26/2024 4:29 PM, Tim Keenan via Colorado-Talk wrote:

Hooray, they fixed the survey! You should have received an email with a new link.

For those of you who use RTD paratransit and haven’t received it (I don’t believe it will be sent to every customer,) here’s a breakdown of what they ask. This might help you when you’re leaving your feedback.

First, they ask how often you use AAR and AOD.

Then, they ask you to rank five aspects of the service in order of importance, including trips per month, trip cost, service area, and a couple I can’t recall right now.

Next, they present three possible scenarios for AOD and ask you to rank your preference.

Before listing these scenarios, they reiterate that:

In the following scenarios, Access-a-Ride ADA service is provided in the ¾ mile boundary around all non-commuter fixed-route bus routes and rail stations, during the time of day and days of week those fixed services are offered.  Access-a-Ride trips have a fare of $4.50/trip.

Currently, the Access-on-Demand program provides a $25/trip subsidy for up to 60 trips per month.  Service is provided within the entire RTD service area. Customers pay no fare.

So, you can see they’re really trying to hammer this equity thing.

Scenarios:

Scenario A: Provides a $30 per trip subsidy for up to 30 trips per month. The customer will pay a fare of $4.50, equal to the AaR fare.

 Scenario B: Provides a $25 per trip subsidy for up to 40 trips. The customer will pay a fare of $5.50.

Scenario C: Provides a $25 per trip subsidy for up to 50 trips per month. The customer will pay a fare of $6.50.

In all scenarios, service will be provided within the ADA service area (3/4 mile from fixed route service).

Then, they ask:

Regardless of your preferred scenario above, if RTD were to provide Access-on-Demand service outside the ADA service area, but within the RTD boundary, and charge a premium fare of $10-12 per trip, how likely are you to use that service?

To me, this is confusing because it doesn’t say whether you’d have to pay anything on top of this fare. 

Then, they ask you how implementation of any of the listed scenarios would affect your use of AOD and AAR.

After that, they ask you what other modes of transportation you use. This includes riding in family/friends’ vehicles.

Finally, they ask you whether you use a wheelchair, followed by the usual demographic questions, including your annual income and how many other people live in your home.

And that’s that.

Oh, and when they sent the original botched one yesterday, the survey had a due date of next Monday. I didn’t think to look whether they extended that. Either way, not a very long time to fill it out for those of us who received the survey, though it’s quite short and to the point.

This certainly raises some questions. The only one I’ll pose here is:

In one of the listening sessions, someone said that they thought it would be illegal for them to raise the AOD fare beyond the AAR fare. I guess we need to know whether that’s really the case.

Thanks, everyone!
Happy feedbacking!

-Tim

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