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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-01-COD-ltr VS MOq 75 N 17 4' m p Town of Lexington Commission on Disability u An' APRILIV l FXI N(,'c(N Victoria Buckley, Chair I am Victoria Buckley, chair of the Lexington Commission on Disability The Lexington Commission on Disability strongly opposes the MBTA's proposed cuts The budget cuts being discussed by the MBTA could result in Lexington losing its bus service — the 76 and the 62 buses — as well as $80,000 in the suburban subsidy program The cost of RIDE services could be increased dramatically In times of economic stress and environmental concerns, these are not cuts that would be welcomed at all The simple fact is that people who take mass transit often have no other means to get to work. Our biggest concern is the proposed increase in paratransit (RIDE) fares, an increase ranging from 125% to 500% The Commission advocates for its citizens with disabilities and we feel that this fare increase could be devastating to the independence of these individuals These are your most vulnerable customers who have the most needs These are people getting to treatment services and getting to and from work who cannot afford huge cost increases We need to support and advocate for our neediest citizens The savings can be documented in dollars and cents but the costs are bigger than dollars, since they impact individuals' independence and self-worth We need to look at some of those individuals, some of those 695 people in Lexington who use the RIDE • We have the proud hard-working man with difficulties in four limbs due to cerebral palsy who goes to work every day with pride • We have the middle-aged man with severe anxiety and paranoia who goes back and forth to treatment daily with the RIDE so he can learn ways to deal with his illness • We have a young man with a power wheelchair trying to go to his college classes with his personal care assistant • We have people of all ages and all types of special abilities who without the RIDE would not be able to get to work or get to medical care and treatment 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON MASSACHUSETTS 02420 We have a responsibility to support these individuals' efforts to be independent and successful With your proposed cuts, the town would be forced to subsidize fares since the ADA requires paratransit services within 3/4 mile of the town's Lexpress routes The town cannot absorb this additional cost or the added infrastructure cost to monitor which zones would have different fares We also object to the proposed elimination of MBTA bus routes 62 and 76 These routes connect Alewife Station with the Bedford Veterans Administration Hospital, Hanscom Air Force Base (HAFB), Hanscom Field, commercial districts along Route 128/95, Minute Man Regional Technical High School, Beth Israel Deaconess facilities, Minute Man National Historic Park, major historic sites, and Arlington Heights, as well as the towns of Lexington, Bedford, and Lincoln The neighboring town to Lexington is Bedford and some of our neighbors are disabled veterans who need the buses and the RIDE to get medical care, counseling, and all that they deserve after serving their country That means the riders are veterans seeking medical services, their visitors, and their families, commuters in and out of Lexington, both disabled and not, students for the high school and for the vocational/technical high school For many riders, public transit is their only option We cannot afford the human cost of eliminating service The cost to our community of losing the bus service is larger than financial Without the RIDE being at a reasonable cost we are impacting individuals' independence and self-worth, since for many not having the RIDE means not going out to work. Without jobs, without access to medical care and treatment, and without access to participate in our community at large is wrong and this raises issues larger than monetary ones Other citizens who are not disabled may be using public transportation because that is all they can afford and they need to get to work by using the T Creating cuts that would impact those who already are challenged financially or physically makes no sense Please do not take away public transportation services from those in our communities who desperately need them Public Hearing Waltham, Massachusetts March 1 , 2012