Much
has happened with the Illinois House Mass Transit Committee, especially
in the area of Paratransit.
On
May 27, 2005, the Illinois Senate sent Governor Rod Blagojevich a bill, HB1663.
This legislation will transfer control of all of the Chicago
Metropolitan area’s Paratransit services to PACE starting in July,
2006. This includes the
Paratransit now provided by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to
Chicago city residents with disabilities.
Here are a few pros and cons which I have put together from
discussions I’ve had with Pace officials, legislators and others in
the disability community.
Pros:
1)
Having Paratransit services under the control of one agency region wide
will improve coordination of services and operating efficiency.
2)
Pace can take over the process of determining Paratransit eligibility,
which will give the disability community an opportunity to work for
improvements in this process.
3)
Local programs like Ride DuPage are not affected by this legislation;
only Paratransit as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) will be put under Pace’s control.
4)
Having all Paratransit under one agency will make it easier to approach
other agencies such as the Department of Public Aid for funds to help
pay for the cost of some Paratransit trips.
In particular, legislators are very interested in seeking help
covering the cost of Paratransit for medical trips through the Medicaid
program.
Cons:
1) With the state in such difficult financial times, where
will the funding come from for PACE to operate Paratransit across the
region? Will other programs
such as PACE’s fixed route services, Ride DuPage, township
Dial-a-rides and others get less money to operate?
2) By taking over CTA’s Paratransit, PACE will now be
responsible for an additional 2.5 million Paratransit trips per year.
What are they going to do to make sure they can handle this extra
load and deliver quality, on-time Paratransit service?
3) How much money is really available from such sources as
Medicaid to help with Paratransit costs and how will the program be
administered so we don’t violate ADA law by prioritizing trips based
on trip purpose? Also, how
will other Medicaid restrictions impact the amount of funding for
Paratransit cost assistance?
What does this mean to me, the person with a disability who
depends on ADA Paratransit to get around?
First and most important, NOTHING WILL CHANGE RIGHT AWAY.
Continue to call and schedule your Paratransit trips as you do
now. HB1663 requires that PACE and the Regional Transportation Authority
(RTA) develop a plan for how Paratransit will be provided starting in
July, 2006. This plan must
follow the ADA regulations which means there must be opportunities for
people with disabilities and the general public to comment on it. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that we all get to public hearings on these plans when they are
held. You can subscribe to
our center’s E-mail advocacy list and we will use it to keep everyone
informed when hearings are being held.
If you want to subscribe, send an e-mail with something like
“Advocacy List” in the subject line to me at ray_dupagecil@sbcglobal.net.
Provide your name and e-mail address and we’ll get you signed up.
If you do not have e-mail and still want to be informed about
hearings, call me here at the center at 630-469-2300 (V/Relay) and leave
me your name and phone number.
Pace will provide you plenty of notice when changes are
coming in Paratransit; we’ll make sure of it. As the planning process
moves forward, if you have any concerns at all about it, let your state
Representative and State Senator know about them since they are the ones
who approved this legislation. They
need to know if it is or is not working so they can hold PACE
accountable. If you need
help contacting your legislators, call us here at the center and we can
help.
As of this writing, Governor Blagojevich has not yet signed
HB1663 into law. However, I
fully expect he will and even if he were to veto it, that veto would
likely be overridden as this bill passed overwhelmingly in both the
Illinois House and Senate. If
you feel strongly that the Governor should veto this bill, contact his
office and let him know. You
can call the Governor’s office at 312-814-2121 (Voice).
If you want to find out more about HB1663. Go to www.ilga.gov.
Once there, enter “hb1663” in the search box and hit the
search button. Once it comes
up, click on “full text” then on “House Amendment 002.”
Please call or e-mail me if you have questions.
emal:
pat_dupagecilsbcglobal.net
Phone#: (630)
469 2300
Back
to Transportation Home
