Seniors, Disabled Protest Proposal to Alter Van Service

One distraught and disabled woman has been “losing sleep at night.” A man warned that the frail and elderly will be “trapped behind their front doors.” Another feared that his five-minute ride to work would take 45 minutes.

During more than three hours of testimony Monday, members of the county’s senior and disabled populations and their advocates pleaded with Orange County Transportation Authority directors not to alter services to cut costs.

“I hope you guys realize that I am dependent on you to live an active and productive life,” said Gloria Caballero, an Anaheim resident with cerebral palsy.

Like many in the overflow crowd, Caballero uses a wheelchair and relies on OCTA’s special van service for the elderly and disabled--called Access--to get to work.

To meet greater demand, the Access program has become stretched thin, causing OCTA to propose reducing operating hours during off-peak periods and picking up customers at the curb instead of at their doors.

The 12-member board is scheduled to vote on the proposal Dec. 9.

The proposed revisions would allow the program to operate more efficiently, according to Cheryl Johns, program manager.

“This is not an effort to reduce services,” Johns said. “Our goal is to produce more rides within the existing budget.”

The proposed changes to Access, which would also eliminate pickups and drop-offs in some of the county’s most remote areas, have many observers charging that the agency has lost sight of its mandate.

Paula Warren, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Adult Day Care Coalition, called Access “a lifeline to the disabled and frail elderly.”

“If OCTA cuts these components out of the current level of service, you may meet the letter of the law . . . but you gut the spirit of the law,” Warren told the board.

Perhaps the most frightening loss would be the door-to-door service, many speakers said.

The alternative--waiting as long as an hour for a van to arrive at curbside--is unacceptable for many disabled people, particularly at night and during poor weather, patrons said.

“If you eliminate some of the door-to-door services, I’m trapped, I’m isolated,” said Paulette Mozko, 35, of Orange, who suffers from an epileptic disorder. “I can’t make it to a bus stop.”

Johns said the demand for service is growing, from 2,000 customers when Access began in October 1993, to nearly 12,600 today, with another 175 to 200 clients qualifying each month.