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When the Metropolitan Transportation Authority changed its criteria for determining eligibility for Access-A-Ride last year, Flushing resident Toby Rosen was one of thousands who was denied a ride.

Rosen, 86, had been using the shared, door-to-door paratransit service for six years when she was called into an MTA evaluation center last November. Despite her multiple physical ailments, including arthritis, gout, failing eyesight and dizziness, Rosen was asked to drop her cane and climb a flight of stairs. Then, five months later, in March, she received notice from the MTA that she was no longer eligible for the service.

Rosen’s councilmember, John Liu (D-Flushing), has sided with the senior citizen and the thousands like her, who have been left out by the new MTA policy.

“The MTA has put too many people through needless ordeals in the recertification process,” said Liu, Chair of the Transportation Committee. “Rather than run every Access-A-Ride user through the gauntlet, there needs to be consideration for the age of the rider and the length of time the rider has already been relying on Access-A-Ride. There’s no need to require seniors who have been on Access-A-Ride for many years to schlep into the MTA office.”
Last Thursday, with Liu’s support, Rosen appealed to the MTA to reverse its decision and on Friday, Rosen was notified that she was once again eligible.

“I am not surprised at the MTA’s response to Mrs. Rosen’s application for renewal of her Access-A-Ride service,” said Patricia Dolan, director of Queens Connection Paratransit for Seniors. “But I do think it was shameful the way she was treated by the MTA, and even more shameful that other people with disabilities, especially elderly ones, have had similar experiences. Applicants are now subjected to the new in-person assessment have likened it to an IRS audit. People are being discouraged from applying for Access-A-Ride service.”

Under the old system, the City’s disabled filled in paperwork every three years and were not required to visit a MTA evaluation center.

“People don’t use Access-A-Ride because they want to, we use it because we have no other alternative,” Michael Harris, executive director of the Disabled Riders Coalition, said. “The current, overly burdensome application process serves only to hinder the ability of persons with disabilities to utilize an essential service.”

MTA has asserted that abuse of Access-A-Ride is rampant, but Liu doubts the legitimacy of this claim.

“In the absence of proof that there is a significant amount of abuse, there are far better ways to cut costs,” Liu said, adding that route planning and scheduling could be made more efficient.

Liu would also like to see smaller, more flexible vehicles on the roads and is recommending that the MTA rethink its policy of only granting riders service to destinations outside the rider’s home borough.

“That policy is based on the ludicrous proposition that getting to destinations within the same borough is somehow easy for disabled seniors via regular bus, and that’s just not the case,” Liu said.