Senior free ride plan hurts others

Once again, Illinois legislators showed no backbone. By refusing to end free transit rides for all but low-income seniors, they put politics ahead of doing the right thing. The program of providing free rides to all seniors is simply unsustainable.

In part because of it, I, as someone who is blind, will be forced to find another way to get to work. I depend on Pace Route 654 for transportation to and from the Glen Ellyn Metra station each day. This route is slated to be discontinued by Pace on about January 1 because Pace has a $5 million budget deficit, caused, in part, by the senior ride program. While I can find another option, my transportation costs will go up by at least $60 a month, all because some people want to ride free and politicians are cowing down to that.

What is more ironic and sickening is that Pace is slated to increase Paratransit fares for people with disabilities to the maximum allowed under federal law. This means, assuming CTA increases fares as they are planning, that the cost for a paratransit trip will rise to $3.50 in the suburbs and $5 in Chicago. People with disabilities have an unemployment rate of about 70 percent, and for many, a $3.50 or $5 fare will essentially keep them shut in their homes, unable to get to and from school, jobs, medical facilities and other places. So here again, Illinois lawmakers have left a segment of our poorer citizens, almost literally, out in the cold.

I urge Governor Quinn and the legislature to find a way to eliminate free rides for all but low incomes seniors. No group should get to ride free at the expense of transportation service for some of us who depend on public transportation or paratransit to get around.

Ray Campbell

Glen Ellyn