RTA to review service for disabled riders

The region's service to disabled riders will be put under the microscope in the next six months.

Regional Transportation Authority directors Thursday agreed to spend up to $98,750 for consultants to report on how well transit agencies are complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

RTA Chairman James Reilly called the study an important step and one that likely would "lead to a major policy debate."

While the consultants will tell the RTA, which oversees Pace, Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority, what the current state of affairs regarding accessibility is, "it will not tell us what we should do," Reily said.

The report comes at a time the RTA is under pressure to improve paratransit service. Riders with disabilities using Pace have repeatedly complained about changes the suburban bus company instituted they say are resulting in poor service. Pace leaders have acknowledged problems, including a major scheduling fiasco when a revamped computer system was introduced, and they recently created a committee to find solutions. The RTA is also auditing Pace's handling of paratransit.

But beyond those concerns, are major questions about what public transit should offer people with disabilities. On one hand, the agency is under the gun to meet financial goals set by the state in operating programs for disabled riders.

On the other hand, is it enough just to follow the law or should the RTA go further? some wondered.

"The moral issue is what we do beyond this," Director Michael Rosenberg of Chicago commented.

The Rev. Tyrone Crider, a director from suburban Cook County, added, "I hope our goal is to go beyond the minimum and to be a model to the nation of what can be done."

Reilly noted, as an example, that the ADA requires paratransit be offered to everyone needing it living within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed route. That's fine in Chicago but not in other parts of the region, where public transit is scarce, he explained.

"Say someone lives a mile and a half from mainline service in a suburban community; they may need transit more than anyone else," Reilly said.

The national consulting firm Nelson/Nygaard will conduct the study. The RTA is expected to hold hearings for people to comment on transit and ADA compliance in the near future.

RTA leaders said the report was necessary following a new state law giving the agency increased authority over the transit agencies.