Port Authority Cuts to Disabled
Thanks to Joyce Driben for passing this along. Port Authority bus cuts could severely hamper disabledBy Chris RamirezPITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEWSaturday, July 24, 2010Blind since birth, Bonnie Rizzino has to walk nearly a half mile every day to catch a bus to work.Rizzino, 52, has cerebral palsy and uses a guide dog to get around. And since spring when the Port Authority of Allegheny County cut dozens of bus routes, she has had to walk several blocks farther to catch the 41B (Bower Hill) from her South Hills home.”You wonder if a four-hour-a-day commute … is even worth it,” said Rizzino, who works as a case manager at the Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services center. “But you still have to pay the mortgage.”And now, the Scott woman is among clients and employees at the center in Homestead who are bracing for another round of Port Authority route changes.Port Authority has proposed a 35 percent cut in service, 555 employee layoffs and fare increases as part of a plan to close a $47 million operating deficit.”We understand the hardships that will arise as we are forced to raise fares and make severe service cuts, and we wish we could avoid such actions,” said Port Authority CEO Steve Bland. “Today, we’re left with little choice.”Clients who use the Blind & Vision center say they have few transportation alternatives.Vision impairment keeps them from driving. Many of the center’s clients don’t live in the same neighborhood, so arranging for a car pool isn’t an option.If a ride from family or friends doesn’t come through, some clients turn to Access and Comm Trans, both companies that are contracted by Port Authority to provide door-to-door service for customers with disabilities. However, customers have to share the ride, which can extend the commute.Access and Comm Trans charge based on the distance a customer travels, exceeding the cost of riding the bus.The cuts will take effect in January, Bland said. Erika Arbogast, the center’s executive director, said she hopes to speak soon with Port Authority officials to see if something can be arranged enabling clients to continue using buses.”Our fear is that, if there’s more cuts, we could start losing people,” she said.A solution can’t come soon enough for Spero Pipakis, who has been riding the bus to the center for years from his home in Carnegie. Schedule changes to the 53 L (Homestead Park Limited) have extended his commute to nearly two hours from 90 minutes.He sometimes has to rush with his guide dog to make his 5:05 p.m. bus when his job at the center ends at 4:30 p.m.”I’m to the point that, if I could get my wife to agree to it, I’d probably go on disability,” said Pipakis, 58, who has been blind since birth. “I spend so much of my day waiting for buses that sometimes come and sometimes don’t.
