Dial-a-Ride Service to Narrow Its Horizons : Transportation: The vans soon will be available only to the elderly and handicapped, their attendants and groups that contract for service.

For 17 years, the county’s dial-a-ride service has been available to mothers taking sick children to doctors, people with broken-down cars and anyone else who picked up the telephone.

But under a plan approved Monday on a 3-2 vote by the Orange County Transit District, dial-a-ride vans will soon be available only to elderly and handicapped people, their attendants and groups who contract for service on a regular basis.

Many of those who attended a packed OCTD meeting Monday morning praised the new plan, saying it will help cut costs and increase the efficiency of the door-to-door van service. Only 18% of dial-a-ride’s $8.3-million annual budget now comes from fares, which range from 80 cents for the elderly and disabled to $1.70 for others.

“My goal is to improve the service for people who have no other choices,” said board Chairman Roger R. Stanton, who proposed the plan as an alternative to unpopular recommendations that included cutting Saturday service.

OCTD board member John Erskine added, “I can’t see much of an impact on any segment of the public other than those who are using the service as a pure convenience or a chauffeured limousine.”

But board members William E. Farris and Richard B. Edgar criticized the plan.

“People who live in inaccessible areas of this county are paying taxes and are entitled to the service too,” Farris said, noting that when he lived in Anaheim Hills he was 1 1/2 miles from a bus stop.

Rosemary Parrovechio, director of Newport Mesa Girls Club, said she is happy to see groups such as hers covered by the new plan; an earlier proposal would have eliminated her group from receiving service. But Parrovechio said she is worried about the effect on after-school programs that don’t have a group service contract and on parents who depend on dial-a-ride to transport their children to day-care providers.

Transit district staff members will study the plan’s effect on such users and will look at the feasibility of extending weekday hours and other possible changes such as allowing standing appointments for dial-a-ride service. In 30 days, staff members will report back to the board with an implementation plan for a one-year pilot program.