Laura
05-11-2007, 08:39 AM
MTA Veep Pressed on Access-A-Ride Changes (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18325584&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=575596&rfi=6)
A senior Metropolitan Transportation Authority official fended off almost two hours of blistering criticism last week at a hearing at City Hall from those who questioned changes made to the Access-A-Ride application process.
Since the paratransit network’s 1997 inception, New York City Transit — the arm of the MTA that administers the service — tested the mobility of roughly 50 percent of applicants. The remaining 50 percent submitted written applications accompanied by letters from physicians. But as of March 5, everyone applying for the service had to report to an assessment center for an interview and mobility exam, prompting criticism from riders and their advocates at a City Council oversight hearing on Thursday.
Thomas Charles, vice president of the MTA’s Paratransit Division, stated that the change standardizes the application process and allows for more timely responses to applicants. In accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, the MTA must answer applications within 21 days or applicants are granted “presumptive eligibility.”
But some Access-A-Ride users contend that the new procedure is flawed. Inez Moscatiello, of South Ozone Park, said that on some days she could pass an Access-A-Ride mobility test, which includes walking up and down flights of stairs the size of those at bus and subway stations. But she added that on other days, her severe pulmonary and circulatory conditions prevent her from taking more than five steps before losing her breath.
Due to reapply in September, Moscatiello worries that she will be denied service by an evaluation team, which can include a physical therapist, a registered nurse, a physician’s assistant and a psychiatrist, depending on an applicant’s disability. None would have the same familiarity with a patient’s condition as the individual’s doctor would, Moscatiello added.
Echoing the concerns of Moscatiello and others, Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), the chairman of the council’s Transportation Committee, asked: “Why the change now?”
Charles answered that as the city continues to gray over the next five years, the MTA expects to see jumps of 15 percent in the numbers of submitted applications per year.
From this, Liu inferred: “The MTA thinks too many people are slipping into the system.”
Though New York City Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said at the time of the policy change’s announcement that the agency wanted “to make sure that everyone who is a customer really should be a customer,” Charles adamantly denied Liu’s suggestion. He said that the MTA doesn’t want to limit the number of customers it serves, but only to evaluate applications more efficiently. He noted that between 30 percent and 40 percent of those who mail in applications need to be contacted by telephone before a decision can be made.
Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), the chairman of the council’s Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Disability Services Committee, shared Liu’s skepticism. “It just doesn’t make sense to me that a review of a piece of paper is less efficient than an appointment and test,” he said. Tests typically take between 45 minutes and one hour.
Both Koppell and Liu said that they would support measures to ensure that only those who need Access-A-Ride service receive it, but they contended that the MTA was acting before formally gauging levels of Access-A-Ride fraud.
Because approximately 71 percent of the total number of Access-A-Ride registrants are over 65, some senior advocates worry that the elderly will now be reluctant to apply. Patricia Dolan, the director of Queens Connection, a group at the Queens Community House in Forest Hills that helps coordinate senior transportation programs, stated at the hearing: “(Seniors) are frightened by this new policy.”
Several senior citizens and disabled individuals at the hearing voiced their opposition to the policy change as well, including Manhattan’s Chris Noel. “I don’t think that a doctor would put his license on the line faking someone’s injury so they could get Access-A-Ride,” he said incredulously.
The assessment center in Queens, where 26.9 percent of Access-A-Ride customers reside, is located in the Airport Medical Offices at Kennedy International Airport.
A senior Metropolitan Transportation Authority official fended off almost two hours of blistering criticism last week at a hearing at City Hall from those who questioned changes made to the Access-A-Ride application process.
Since the paratransit network’s 1997 inception, New York City Transit — the arm of the MTA that administers the service — tested the mobility of roughly 50 percent of applicants. The remaining 50 percent submitted written applications accompanied by letters from physicians. But as of March 5, everyone applying for the service had to report to an assessment center for an interview and mobility exam, prompting criticism from riders and their advocates at a City Council oversight hearing on Thursday.
Thomas Charles, vice president of the MTA’s Paratransit Division, stated that the change standardizes the application process and allows for more timely responses to applicants. In accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, the MTA must answer applications within 21 days or applicants are granted “presumptive eligibility.”
But some Access-A-Ride users contend that the new procedure is flawed. Inez Moscatiello, of South Ozone Park, said that on some days she could pass an Access-A-Ride mobility test, which includes walking up and down flights of stairs the size of those at bus and subway stations. But she added that on other days, her severe pulmonary and circulatory conditions prevent her from taking more than five steps before losing her breath.
Due to reapply in September, Moscatiello worries that she will be denied service by an evaluation team, which can include a physical therapist, a registered nurse, a physician’s assistant and a psychiatrist, depending on an applicant’s disability. None would have the same familiarity with a patient’s condition as the individual’s doctor would, Moscatiello added.
Echoing the concerns of Moscatiello and others, Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), the chairman of the council’s Transportation Committee, asked: “Why the change now?”
Charles answered that as the city continues to gray over the next five years, the MTA expects to see jumps of 15 percent in the numbers of submitted applications per year.
From this, Liu inferred: “The MTA thinks too many people are slipping into the system.”
Though New York City Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said at the time of the policy change’s announcement that the agency wanted “to make sure that everyone who is a customer really should be a customer,” Charles adamantly denied Liu’s suggestion. He said that the MTA doesn’t want to limit the number of customers it serves, but only to evaluate applications more efficiently. He noted that between 30 percent and 40 percent of those who mail in applications need to be contacted by telephone before a decision can be made.
Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), the chairman of the council’s Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Disability Services Committee, shared Liu’s skepticism. “It just doesn’t make sense to me that a review of a piece of paper is less efficient than an appointment and test,” he said. Tests typically take between 45 minutes and one hour.
Both Koppell and Liu said that they would support measures to ensure that only those who need Access-A-Ride service receive it, but they contended that the MTA was acting before formally gauging levels of Access-A-Ride fraud.
Because approximately 71 percent of the total number of Access-A-Ride registrants are over 65, some senior advocates worry that the elderly will now be reluctant to apply. Patricia Dolan, the director of Queens Connection, a group at the Queens Community House in Forest Hills that helps coordinate senior transportation programs, stated at the hearing: “(Seniors) are frightened by this new policy.”
Several senior citizens and disabled individuals at the hearing voiced their opposition to the policy change as well, including Manhattan’s Chris Noel. “I don’t think that a doctor would put his license on the line faking someone’s injury so they could get Access-A-Ride,” he said incredulously.
The assessment center in Queens, where 26.9 percent of Access-A-Ride customers reside, is located in the Airport Medical Offices at Kennedy International Airport.