Seniors Fearful of Losing Rides : Transportation: Popular Dial-A-Ride program is facing cutbacks. The money is needed for a transit service for the disabled.

In an emotional meeting that pitted two vulnerable groups against each other, local transportation officials heard testimony Monday on a plan to eliminate some of the county’s Dial-A-Ride program for seniors while maintaining a similar program for disabled riders.

Several dozen elderly and handicapped persons crowded inside the Orange County Transportation Authority hearing room, where speakers expressed outrage over the proposal, arguing it is unfair to pit the disabled against seniors in a battle for scarce budget dollars.

At issue is the transportation agency’s plan to phase out most of its popular Dial-A-Ride program by Sept. 11 so it can fund a federally mandated transportation program for disabled riders. Transit officials call the agency’s program for handicapped riders ACCESS service.

The dispute has it roots in the Americans With Disabilities Act, approved in 1990 by Congress. It requires local transportation agencies to facilitate use of mass transit by the disabled, though the federal mandate came without any funding.

At Monday’s public hearing, frustrated agency board members said there is not enough money to pay for both programs. The board will decide the future of the 20-year-old Dial-A-Ride May 23.

Under the proposal, Dial-A-Ride for individuals--where a single person can call for same-day transportation--would be ended. The program would be retained for groups.

“The federal government passes a law but doesn’t write a check,” said board member and San Juan Capistrano City Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer. “We have a federal mandate to solve a problem with limited funds.”

Avondle Sharum, who represented a senior services center in Santa Ana, said she was “appalled” by the proposal to end one program in order to save another. “Disabled persons are now pitted against seniors,” she said.

Her comment was echoed by Nora Webb, director of the Roger Senior Center in Huntington Beach, who said it is “a most horrendous thing pitting the two groups against one another.” Several of the 50 speakers who addressed the board during a three-hour meeting expressed the same sentiment.

Individual Dial-A-Ride accounts for about 300,000 riders annually and costs the agency $5 million, according to OCTA figures. The fare is 90 cents each way per transportation zone, and the program is available to people 65 or older and some persons with disabilities. Group Dial-A-Ride services 950,000 riders a year and costs $2.2 million.

ACCESS would cost about $4.5 million annually and would serve some 250,000 riders. The fare is $1.50 each way. OCTA expects about 4,500 people to qualify for the ACCESS program by the end of June. In order to qualify, riders have to prove they have a disability that precludes them from riding a regular bus.

According to agency figures, Dial-A-Ride service is subsidized at $16 per trip, while ACCESS is subsidized at $22 each trip. By comparison, riders on fixed bus routes are subsidized at $1.55 per trip.

Both Dial-A-Ride and ACCESS provide door-to-door service. But while Dial-A-Ride offers same-day service, ACCESS currently requires 48-hour notice. Officials hope to reduce that to 24 hours by the end of the year.

At the hearing, several seniors said that Dial-A-Ride is the difference in their lives between independence and being a shut-in. The program enables them to travel to the grocery, bank and doctor without having to impose on friends or family, they said.

Marilyn Ditty, executive director of San Clemente Seniors, Inc., expressed doubt that the agency would be able to phase out Dial-A-Ride by September without “disenfranchising an entire group of people.”

“They don’t have a system in place to phase it out so quickly. Seniors are still very transit dependent and OCTA doesn’t have a system in place to make the transition orderly. We’re seeing a panic among many seniors who are afraid they are losing their independence come September.”

The agency has no plans now to offer an alternative service, officials said.

Ditty and other speakers asked the board to delay at least 18 months before phasing out the taxi service. By that time, the transportation agency could devise an alternative plan to accommodate seniors, they said.

While eliminating the program could cut some costs for the transit authority, it could also drive up costs for other agencies that serve senior citizens, Ditty said.

“If their transportation is cut off, you’re going to have more homebound seniors,” Ditty said. “This means that we’re going to have to bring services to them, like delivering meals to their homes. Nobody has the money to pay for these services.”

The transit agency has until January, 1997, to comply with the federal law, but the agency is pushing to have it implemented by January, 1995.

Transit officials said the demand from the disabled for the federally mandated program is growing at such a rapid pace that it is necessary to speed up its implementation to maintain quality service.