Seniors Struggle to Cope With L.A.’s Transit Strike

Eighty-eight-year-old Sylvia Bronstein wants to get downtown to see the new Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Albert Leaderman, 91, is eager to get back to the racetrack, where he can meet his pals and check out the horses.

Sam Baradaran, 62, wants to get to the doctor.

The three Los Angeles residents had made their way to a senior center run by Jewish Family Services on Fairfax Avenue -- Bronstein and Leaderman on foot, and Baradaran in a car driven by a friend. It was the first time in two weeks that Baradaran, who depends on the kosher meal service provided by the center, had been able to come.

“I’ve missed two doctor’s appointments,” said Baradaran, a diabetic who depends on a clinic at Cedars-Sinai for medication, checkups and treatment.

Since union mechanics went on strike against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Oct. 14, idling bus and rail service for 400,000 people, senior citizens throughout Los Angeles County have felt the impact deeply.

At the nine meal centers run by Jewish Family Services, as many as one-third of those who regularly come for hot meals have been unable to make it for lunch or dinner since the strike began, said Rachel Bercovic, who runs the program.

Other kitchens and food banks report even more dramatic drops in attendance.

“The first weekend the MTA was on strike we went from upward of 150 people who come to us for food ... to [about] 50,” said Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein, who runs a food bank at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. “That was shocking for us.”

During the last MTA strike, attendance at the eight food pantries run by the organization Hope-Net dropped significantly, said Candace Whalen, who runs the interfaith program. Most of those who couldn’t come, she said, appeared to be seniors.

For his part, Baradaran ate mostly canned food for the first two weeks of the strike, unable to get to the kosher meal center where he usually eats because the buses weren’t running.

On Friday, a friend offered a ride, so Baradaran had a lunch of chicken, fruit and carrots at the center.

Diana Cuchian, activity coordinator for Jewish Family Services, said attendance at senior center lectures and clubs was down by about one-third since the strike started.

Clients have been phoning the center frantically since the work action began, seeking rides to medical appointments, free meal services and other destinations.

“I’m a prisoner in my home,” one woman told Cuchian. “I can’t go anywhere.”

Another woman wanted a ride to a cemetery to visit the grave of a loved one.

“We couldn’t provide transportation there,” said Clete Nelson, who handles the requests to the center. “It was very upsetting to her. She didn’t know where to turn.”

Finally, he said, the center gave the woman a $20 credit toward a taxi ride.

John Fong, who is in charge of special transportation services for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said he has been swamped with requests for the city’s senior van and taxi services. In some areas, he said, ridership in the Cityride bus service, which charges seniors about $1 each way for a short trip, is up by more than half.

Seniors may purchase a book of coupons for the Cityride program that can be used for rides in vans, taxis or buses. Seniors must apply at the senior multipurpose service center nearest their homes.

So far, he said, the city has been able to transport most of the new patrons.

Catherine Gray, who runs a Westside program that takes seniors shopping or to the doctor, said requests for rides were up 23%. Gray said she has been doing her best to accommodate the flood of riders, organizing the van routes so that people whose appointments were near each other rode together.

Still, Gray said, she had to turn away about a dozen people who could not change their medical appointments to times when the vans were available.

The situation was complicated further, she said, because many seniors who depend on the service to go shopping did not want to cross picket lines at Vons, Albertsons and Ralphs grocery stores.

Bronstein and Leaderman had walked to the organization’s senior center on Fairfax Avenue on Friday.

Leaderman, a retired tool-and-die maker, said he sympathized with the mechanics union for walking out. But he said the lack of public transit made him feel trapped and lonely.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Leaderman, who quit driving about four years ago. “It’s very unaccommodating.”

Bronstein said she has severely cut back excursions outside her Park LaBrea neighborhood since the strike began. While she has plenty of shopping and other amenities within walking distance, visits to her doctor or cultural activities like concerts at the new Disney Hall require a bus ride.

Excursions to musical events or the racetrack may seem trivial compared to the need to shop for food or visit the doctor. But people who work with seniors say that social activity is vital to their welfare. Because many seniors have given up driving, public transportation is all the more important to them.

“Aging brings losses,” said Nikki Cavalier, who directs the Fairfax Avenue center for Jewish Family Services. “Seniors need to have recreational outlets that are appealing to them.

“If the gentleman wants to go to the track,” she said, “he ought to be able to do that.”

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Senior Help

Here are phone numbers seniors can call for transportation:

* Dial-A-Ride (323) 666-0895

* Access (800) 883-1295

* Dash 808-2273 (from any area code)

* Checker Cab (323) 654-8400

* Independent Cab (323) 933-5959

* Yellow Cab Downtown (213) 627-7000

* Yellow Cab West L.A. and Valley (818) 848-1000

* United Independent Taxi (310) 558-8294

Source: Jewish Family Services