| Man loses paratransit ride
For the past four years, Utah Transit Authority's efforts to get more people out of paratransit vans and onto buses and TRAX has been working, thanks to stepped-up enforcement of eligibility standards.
UTA's goal was to shrink costs without hampering disabled riders' access to their wider communities. The agency believes it has been successful.
But this month, UTA's paratransit manager denied further service to Matthew Padley, a 31-year-old North Salt Lake resident whose family doesn't believe he can ride the bus safely.
Padley has had brain damage since birth. He is autistic, obsessive-compulsive, has club feet and severe arthritis. But because paratransit evaluators examine riders' mental and physical abilities, not their maladies, UTA declared Padley could ride paratransit vans only under certain conditions.
Disabled hit the buffers
A GRANDMOTHER has spoken out about the lack of provision for wheelchair users at a train station and The Comet can reveal only one out of seven stations investigated in Comet country has step-free access to all platforms.Wendy Crawley, of Wilbury Road, Letchworth GC, is angry her 18-year-old granddaughter - who she did not wish to name - cannot board a train at Letchworth GC station because there is no working lift there.Mrs Crawley said: "There is no access to the platform for the disabled."They run a taxi to the nearest station with a lift, which is usually Stevenage, but that's discrimination and people should be treated the same. .
Mobility Unlimited attempts to lift burden after Route 4's closure
When a bus route past his workplace closed earlier this month, Mark Towery took a week off the job just to plot how he would get around town. Wheelchair bound, Towery is relying on friends, co-workers and taxis while a local nonprofit agency readies a van for him to drive. The 33-year-old is just one in a group of disabled riders formerly reliant on Rogue Valley Transportation District's Route 4 that Mobility Unlimited can assist, said executive director Glory Cooper. "The services have been cut where they're most needed," Cooper said. A $1.2 million shortfall in RVTD's budget coupled with low ridership prompted the Sept. 1 closure of Route 4 past Rogue Valley Medical Center. RVTD's Valley Lift also was discontinued in that area because federal funding for the service is directly linked to the proximity of bus routes.
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