They’ve Got a Ticket to Ride

Loaded with 40 senior citizens, the express bus traveled from the Jewish Family Service Center in North Hollywood to the nearest subway station and back, part of a workshop to explain how to use the Los Angeles County transit system.

The riders, many of whom never had ridden a city bus, were in their 60s, 70s and 80s. Some wanted to end their long dependence on the automobile. Others had lost their driver’s licenses or planned to give them up because of infirmities or traffic accidents.

“I love this bus!” said Evelyn Hayes-Nation, 65, whose enthusiasm for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s demonstration ride was as bright as her yellow blouse. “I have no intention of giving up going places now that I don’t drive.”

Figuring out Southern California’s public transit systems is tough enough for the average commuter. But navigating the region’s complex bus and rail systems can be especially difficult for older people.

While students in the MTA workshop have been pondering how they are going to get around now that they are getting on in years, a similar question has been troubling transit officials and advocates across the country as baby boomers begin entering their 60s.

Are cash-strapped public transit agencies, already struggling to accommodate the elderly, prepared to serve a growing senior population that often requires costly specialized services?

Over the next quarter of a century, the number of people age 65 and older will more than double to 70 million, or 20% of the U.S. population. In California, the number is likely to reach 8 million. About one in five will be unable to drive.

“What are we going to do when so many people are retiring?” asked Anne Canby, president of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a think tank in Washington, D.C. “Elderly men live another six years after giving up their driver’s licenses. Women live for 10 years. That is a big ‘hello.’ ”

During the White House Conference on Aging in December 2005, attendees ranked adequate transportation as their third-highest priority, ahead of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

“This vote should be a wake-up call for all federal, state and local officials,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Assn. “Public transportation is a lifeline for tens of thousands of seniors.”

Without ways to get around, national studies show, the health and well-being of senior citizens can decline dramatically if they become removed from friends, family, cultural events and such vital services as medical care.

For such reasons, researchers say, some seniors drive longer than they should, presenting safety risks to themselves and others.

Fueling the national debate about driving age limits is the current manslaughter trial of George R. Weller, 89, whose automobile plowed through the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market in 2003, killing 10 people.

“There’s a lot of evidence that when you take someone’s license away, the downward spiral can occur very quickly,” said Sandra Rosenbloom, a University of Arizona professor who has studied the transportation needs of seniors. “We need better options to allow people to gracefully give up their driver’s licenses.”

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Across the country, transit agencies are improving bus and rail service for senior citizens with boarding ramps, reserved seating for the disabled, lower fares, travel escorts and outreach programs like MTA’s classes.

But building ridership among retiring baby boomers could be a struggle, transit officials say. Dozens of studies have shown that older people hold a variety of negative perceptions about public transit, many of them justified.

They often feel buses are dirty, uncomfortable and unsafe. Infrequent service, confusing schedules and limited routes are also among the problems that can discourage use of city and county transportation services.

A recent study by AARP found that 60% of people older than 65 do not have a transit stop within a 10-minute walk of their homes.

“It’s hard to pull an 80-year-old lady out of her Lexus and get her to use a bus,” said Richard Smith, executive director of the Partnership to Preserve Independent Living, a social service agency for the elderly in Riverside County. “We need to break the public perception about mass transit that it is for the poor and an unattractive way to travel.”

What particularly troubles transit planners about current demographic trends is that three out of four senior citizens in the country will live in suburbs or rural areas where there is little or no bus or rail service.

In the Bay Area, studies show, the population 65 and older will increase 84%, with the greatest growth occurring in suburban counties. Cities with good rail and bus systems -- San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley -- will see little, if any, growth in their senior populations.

“This is a national issue,” said Annette Williams, a San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Agency manager who oversees services for the elderly and the disabled.

“The growth in the senior population is not occurring where there are transit services.”

Transit officials say that providing service in the suburbs and semi-rural areas will present funding challenges for cash-strapped agencies struggling to meet current federal mandates.

Today, transportation agencies are having a hard time paying for paratransit service, an expensive mode of travel for the elderly and disabled required under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Paratransit service relies on vans that carry 15 to 20 passengers and are equipped with ramps and lifts. Drivers generally pick riders up at their homes. For an extra fee -- as much as $2 each way -- drivers will escort handicapped riders from their doorways to the vehicle.

“It’s a good service for me,” said Karl Gresowski, 90, of Santa Ana, a retired Navy commander who is legally blind and uses a 7-iron as a cane. “I can’t see well, and the regular bus stops are too far away for me to walk to.”

Transit officials say demands for paratransit service are likely to increase because some of the fastest growth in the elderly population is expected among those 85 and older.

“The demand for this type of service could double as the baby boomers retire,” said Chip Hazen, a paratransit administrator for L.A. County’s MTA. “I don’t think the money is going to be there to provide the service. That is my fear.”

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Already, cost pressures are causing transportation agencies to raise fares, shift paratransit riders to regular buses and reduce paratransit service to the minimum required under federal law.

Last year, the Orange County Transportation Authority, for instance, raised the basic one-way paratransit fare 45 cents and reduced service areas.

OCTA’s 230 vans handle fewer than 2% of the agency’s bus riders but require 13% of the $252-million annual budget for bus service.

Every paratransit passenger costs OCTA about $27 per trip, while the one-way fare is $2.25. By comparison, standard bus service costs the agency $2.60 per passenger trip. The one-way fare for seniors is 50 cents.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, requests for paratransit funds by local agencies are twice as much as the available federal money.

“If transit agencies have to provide new service” for the elderly, Rosenbloom said, “they will have to reduce other services.”

One way to meet future transportation needs might be to combine the advantages of fixed bus routes with the flexibility of paratransit services.

Since 1995, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission has operated such a service in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The system’s 30-passenger buses can deviate three-fourths of a mile on each side of their regular routes to pick up and drop off riders who reserve service in advance.

“The system has good potential for providing service to an aging population,” said Eric Marx, the transit agency’s director of planning and operations.

Another solution may rest with a growing number of volunteer driver programs and van services offered by social service agencies, churches and community organizations.

One of the most successful programs in Southern California is administered by the independent living program in Riverside County. Called the TRIP program, it has about 500 volunteer drivers, who are reimbursed for mileage.

During weekdays and weekends, senior citizens can call the program’s coordinators or their drivers to arrange free rides in and around the county.

TRIP serves some of the poorest and hardest-to-reach seniors, including the disabled. Over the last 12 years, the program’s clients have increased from 160 to 500 a year. Its budget has grown from $88,000 to $400,000.

One of the program’s regular riders is Pearl Hayden-Cronce, 72, of Rubidoux, who gets around with the help of a blue walker. She lives alone in Mission Villas, an apartment complex for senior citizens. She has not driven for more than a decade.

“You can go a lot of places; it’s reliable, and I don’t have to wait for a bus,” Hayden-Cronce said. “I’d have a very hard time without it.”

dan.weikel@latimes.com

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Transit services

Various regional transit agencies, social service groups, community organizations and places of worship provide transportation for seniors. For more information, contact:

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. For Seniors on the Move, call (213) 922-2000. The MTA website is www.metro.net.

Orange County Transportation Authority. For the Access program, call (877) 628-2232. Information is also available on the authority’s website at www.octa.net. Click on Bus/Trip Planner, then select either Access or Senior Mobility Program.

Riverside Transit Agency. For general information, call (800) 800-7821. The website is www.riversidetransit.com. Click on Transit Links. Details about the TRIP program are available from the Riverside County Office on Aging at (951) 867-3800.

Ventura County Transportation Commission. For general information, call (805) 642-1591 or click on www.goventura.org.