OCTA Streamlines Reduced-Fare Rules

Mentally disabled bus riders in Orange County should have an easier time qualifying for reduced fares under a new application process released Wednesday by transit officials.

The streamlined rules came as a relief to members of the county’s mentally disabled community who had worried that an impending fare hike would devastate mental health patients unable to qualify for a reduced-fare card. Advocates for the mentally disabled had argued that Orange County’s requirements were too stringent, especially in light of much simpler rules just over the county line in Los Angeles.

While Orange County officials still will not accept qualification for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) as proof of disability--sufficient in Los Angeles--the new guidelines are far less complicated. The old system required doctors to describe the patient’s disability in writing. Strict wording requirements resulted in many mental health patients being turned away, despite medical diagnoses that qualified them for federal assistance.

“It was designed in a way to prevent abuses,” said Steve Wylie, assistant chief executive officer for the Orange County Transportation Authority. “I think our motives were pure, but implementing the system that we had was causing delays.”

The new process, which allows an individual to be certified by county health officials or a private practitioner, should prevent such delays. Wylie said he and others who worked to solve the problem believe it is a better answer than relying on proof of SSI.

County health officials have agreed to provide a list of qualified individuals who want the benefit. Private patients will be given a pared-down application form that requires their doctor to check off qualifications.

“They are making the process much easier, far more user-friendly, as they say,” said Mary-Evelyn Bryden, a mental health advocate who worked for two years to get the rules relaxed.

Bryden and others said the upcoming fare hike, the first in eight years, made fixing the procedure urgent. Holding a reduced-fare card, they said, might make a life-or-death difference for low-income patients who rely on public transportation to get to doctor’s appointments and pharmacies.

The new fares, which eliminate free transfers in favor of a day pass, will cost a five-day-a-week pass buyer $650 a year. The cost with a reduced-fare card will be $130. Although the day pass will be introduced July 11, the fare hike won’t go into effect until January.

Individuals who do not have an obvious physical disability and are not 65 years of age or older are required to carry a reduced-fare pass or card to get the price break. Whereas Medicare card holders automatically qualify for the card, recipients of SSI and Supplemental Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) do not, although both are similar federal aid programs run by the Social Security Administration.

Orange County transit officials say federal rules require that they accept Medicare cards. They are reluctant to accept SSI cards, because they say qualifying for the program does not necessarily mean an individual has a disability that relates to public transportation.

“We believe doing it this new way will be far more expeditious than making people show proof of SSI eligibility,” Wylie said.

The new policy is expected to be approved by the transit board at their meeting Monday, officials said.

“I’m very happy. We got everything we wanted,” said Glenn Watkins, a mental health patient who lobbied the transit authority to change the rule.

For information about the application process, call (714) 636-RIDE, Ext. 7433 and ask for customer relations.