Emily F. Keller: Journalist

County Considers Combining Office for the Physically Challenged with Senior Affairs Department

    Nassau County is proposing to merge the local Office for the Physically Challenged with the Department of Senior Citizen Affairs following the retirement of three staff members and Director Don Dreyer.

    The office provides parking permits to people with disabilities, performs advocacy work and assists the county in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for accessible accommodations. It now has three department employees and an attorney while the seniors department has 33 full-time staff members.

    Published in Able News. Click here to read page one and here to read page two.

Utah Transit Authority Cuts Monthly Paratransit Pass and Service Area

    The Utah Transit Authority has made new cuts to its specialized transportation service for people with disabilities, where ridership has already dropped by more than 50 percent since 2000.   

    Starting today, paratransit riders in Salt Lake City are no longer able to purchase unlimited monthly trip passes. By next October, trips beyond three-quarters of a mile from mass transit bus stops will also be eliminated.

    The UTA board of trustees voted in late August to eliminate the $84 unlimited ride pass for the shared ride service, citing agency-wide cuts stemming from declining tax revenue. Customers who made more than 16 round trips per month – at a cost of $2.50 per trip – benefited from the pass.

    UTA also voted to discontinue rides outside the legally required service area of three-quarters of a mile from mass transit bus and rail stops. UTA will phase out the additional trips over the next 12 months while working with customers to identify alternative methods of travel. The primary substitute is a new deviated route service that picks up riders in the vicinity of a set area for an extra $1 but is not regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

    Published on Transportation Access. Click here to read the article.

Assemblyman Kellner Evaluates Taxi Dispatch System

    Assemblyman Micah Kellner (Dist, 65-D) has released a report on the accessible taxi dispatch system in New York City.

    The June report, "Stranded: How the TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) is Failing Wheelchair Users," criticizes the Taxi and Limousine Commission's Central Dispatch pilot program that has matched customers with accessible taxis using the 311 call center since July 2008.

    Kellner based his findings on 20 monitored calls to the system, and additional research. He concluded that accessible taxis have been subject to a more rigorous approval process than hybrid vehicles, the accessible dispatch program has not been well advertised, and service through the program is unreliable on nights and weekends and outside of Manhattan.

   Published in Able News. Click here to read the story.