City Officials Condemn Able-Ride Cuts

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's recent decision to implement cuts to its Able-Ride service is leaving bus loads of residents in Glen Cove in the lurch, forcing them to suddenly have to make other transportation plans in order to get to a doctor, supermarket or to visit their friends. 

Cuts to Able-Ride, which is a curb-to-curb paratransit bus service for people with disabilities, were finalized on June 3. 

"The seniors and all of us are devastated with this news," said Carol Waldman, the Executive Director of the Glen Cove Senior Center.  

Thomas Charles, the vice president of the MTA's Paratransit Division, said the MTA will save $1.2 million in its $17 million Able-Ride budget by eliminating service to and from locations more than three-quarters of a mile from a fixed Long Island Bus route. 

According to the MTA's current Guide to Able-Ride, "requests for service that starts or ends outside of the ¾ mile area cannot be accepted," which means that residents in the city and nearby areas will lose the service.   

But Waldman criticized the cuts, contending that a change such as this one does more harm than good to the hundreds of people who rely on it as their main mode of public transportation.

"The cuts affect people who want to get out to work, people who want to get into the community, and people who have to get out," Waldman said, adding that such a drastic cut could spark depression because many will lose access to the outside world." "[The MTA] doesn't realize the ripple effect of [the cuts] is extraordinary. They're using this as another way to make a cut, [but] this is not the place to cut."  

Betty Mallett, the center's patient advocacy representative and a former worker at the Helen Keller Services for the Blind in Hempstead, shared similar sentiments, calling the service an important one for those living with disabilities. Mallet explained that one of her former students, who is legally blind, will now have to pay more than $100 in taxi costs.

"Many blind people come to work on that Able-Ride bus and now they don't have it," Mallett said. "It's something that shouldn't be taken away."

Waldman noted, however, that she doesn't know how the cuts will affect the center's seniors entirely because it is still unclear what kind of alternatives will be offered. 

"Our hope is that MTA will come up with some alternative [because] transportation out in this area is horrific to begin with," she said, adding that Mayor Ralph Suozzi offered his help to the center in an effort to lessen the damage from the loss of service. "We have limitations with what we can provide. We provide service to and from the senior center, to and from [supermarkets] ... so Able-Ride is what they use to see the doctors and everywhere else they have to go." 

The center also recently submitted a petition, which has about 200 signatures, in protest of the cuts to County Legislator Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove). Yatauro explained that many lawmakers have pushed for the distribution of vouchers and other initiatives in an attempt to restore the service, but to no avail. 

"The action by the MTA to eliminate the Able-Ride funding is deplorable. It hurts those who truly depend upon the services provided. We will petition the MTA to restore the cuts [and] we will work with state legislators to find appropriate solutions," said Yatauro, the Legislature's Minority Leader. "The MTA must not attempt to balance its budget by punishing the physically challenged who have no other transportation options. ... Our Caucus has offered several viable solutions including the issuance of vouchers. Unfortunately, all suggestions have been rejected. I will continue to push the MTA leadership to come to their senses and restore Able-Ride." 

If you're a resident who will lose access to this service, Patch would like to hear from you. E-mail dana@patch.com.