With the growing demand for specialized transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities, Lane Transit District is faced with a challenge: Find additional funding or cut routes. That’s according to a group of public officials who visited Eugene Monday to talk about possible solutions to the problem. Governor Ted Kulongoski, who spoke to a small crowd at Eugene’s downtown bus station, announced the need to increase spending on transportation services, especially for the elderly and disabled. The demand for paratransit, a transportation system for the elderly and people with disabilities who are unable to access fixed-route buses, is at an all-time high, according to LTD officials.
Ride Source, an LTD paratransit system, experienced usage increases of more than 10 percent last year and is expected to experience even higher increases this year. Cuts will be made to fixed-route systems unless additional funding is received to meet the growing demand for Ride Source services. However, demand for fixed-route services is also increasing.
Oregon State Representative Terry Beyer, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said without increased funds, LTD will face large cutbacks, affecting those in rural and urban areas.
The federal Americans with Disabilities Act requires access to paratransit services equal to fixed-route service, but federal funding is not provided.
Currently, Oregon funds part of its paratransit service with a portion of its tobacco tax. Funding from the tobacco tax, however, has not increased in recent years. But the need for paratransit has.
Oregon is not alone in its transportation funding crisis. Transit districts across the country are facing similar problems.
Kulongoski said transportation services allow people to have independence in their living. “Thousands rely on services like Ride Source to get to and from their jobs,” he said.
L.M. Reese, Chairman of the Accessible Transportation Committee for Lane Transit District, said that people with disabilities derive their independence from being able to jump on the bus. “I know it ’cause I live it,” said Reese, who uses a wheelchair.
Ride Source provides curb-to-curb transportation for disabled citizens. The service also provides a once-a-week shopping service and a volunteer-based, door-to-door service for riders who need additional help.
The governor said the 2009 legislative session will look for ways to provide all citizens with forms of alternative transportation. The problem now, he said, is that funding for transportation services is not keeping up with population growth.
In the next 25 years, Oregon’s population is expected to increase by 40 percent, making the need to acquire funding for transportation services to sustain the growth imperative, the governor said.
Because larger groups of baby boomers are retiring, demand for transportation services, especially for elderly and disability services, will continue to grow, Kulongoski said.
The governor also said transportation plays a dominant role in the state’s economy, with about 400,000 jobs tied to transportation. Failing to adequately fund transportation services could cost the state huge economic losses, Kulongoski said.
Kulongoski said that collective effort will need to be made to address the funding issue.
“We need to work across party lines and regions, and look at the big picture,” he said.