Disabled passengers slam Able-Ride cutbacks

With less than a week before big changes in Nassau's Able-Ride bus system leave some customers without any service, disabled bus riders Thursday raised their concerns with MTA officials in their first face-to-face meeting since the alterations were announced.

About two dozen disabled bus riders and their advocates met with officials from MTA Long Island Bus, which operates Able-Ride and organized the meeting. A State Supreme Court justice had ordered the MTA to hold such a meeting to alleviate some riders' concerns and discuss possible alternatives after a group of disabled riders sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority earlier this month.

The MTA says the changes to Able-Ride, which provides door-to-door transportation for disabled riders who cannot get to a bus or train, will save it $1.2 million this year. The biggest change is that Able-Ride no longer will offer door-to-door service to origins or destinations more than three-quarters of a mile from an existing bus route.

That change will likely take effect Tuesday, pending a judge's decision that day.

Also Thursday, officials revealed other cost-cutting measures that Able-Ride plans to phase in this year.

They include closer screening to determine if customers meet federal eligibility requirements to use paratransit, negotiations with private taxi companies to supplement their services, and a plan to get some Able-Ride customers to use standard buses by creating a "feeder service" to and from bus stops.

"We are all about service. We don't like to be in this position," Tom Charles, MTA vice president for paratransit services, said at the meeting. "But the funding and the finances have caused us to make some hard decisions."

Charles confirmed Thursday that several communities in the Town of Oyster Bay would lose door-to-door service because there are few bus routes there. He said customers living in Syosset no longer could be picked up at their homes.

The service changes will affect about 9 percent of the agency's 32,000 annual trips, Charles said.

That figure was little solace to bus rider John Jeavons, 48, of Farmingdale, who is blind.

"For the people who are affected, you are reducing the service 100 percent," Jeavons said at the meeting.

Able-Ride changes

Q: Will the planned changes to Able-Ride affect me?

A: Only if you are traveling to or from a location that is more than three-quarters of a mile from an existing Long Island Bus route.

Q: How can I find out if my home address is outside those parameters?

A: LI Bus officials say once the changes are implemented - possibly on Tuesday - you'll find out when you call to make a reservation. They say they can't tell customers any earlier because their computer software will not be upgraded until then to make those determinations.

Q: What if I make reservations for a trip before the changes are implemented, and it turns out I live in an affected area?

A: LI Bus officials say they will honor all trips reserved before the changes take effect.

Q: What are some communities that will be affected?

A: They include, but are not limited to, parts of Bayville, Glen Cove, Old Bethpage, Plainview, Westbury, Hicksville and Oyster Bay, as well as Syosset.

Q: If I live in an affected area, what are my options?

A: LI Bus officials say if you can get to any location within three-quarters of a mile of an existing bus route, you can be picked up there. Alternatively, they say that some agencies, including senior centers, veterans administration hospitals and churches, offer volunteer van services.

Q: Why is this happening now?

A: MTA officials say they no longer can afford to make up funding shortfalls that they say are the responsibility of Nassau County, which owns LI Bus.

ALFONSO A. CASTILLO