Frustrations vented at UTA paratransit meeting

FARMINGTON — Three times a week, a Utah Transit Authority paratransit bus pulls up to Bonnie Beraz's Layton home and drives her to Farmington Bay Dialysis for treatment for her failing kidneys.

"It saves my life three times a week," Beraz said of the paratransit service. "You can't miss one day of dialysis."

Beraz, who is in a wheelchair and relies on oxygen, currently pays $2.50 for a one-way trip. But under a proposal, UTA could increase fares up to $4 for a one-way trip and eliminate a discounted bus pass, which 65 to 75 percent of paratransit riders use.

"I'm on a fixed income," said Beraz, who receives disability aid and her husband's pension of less than $80 a month. She said she can't afford the increased fare proposal.

Beraz was one of about 50 people at Farmington City Hall on Thursday to discuss with UTA the proposal to cut back paratransit service to meet the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In addition to the fare hike, UTA is proposing limiting service to people who live within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed bus route that runs all day or a rail or bus rapid-transit station. Riders who live outside that area must get themselves to a location that's three-quarters of a mile away or less.

That could be a problem for people who are blind, said Linda Whitten, who is blind and doesn't dare cross her residential street in Layton because there are no crosswalks where she can hear traffic patterns. While Whitten lives within the parameters of the UTA proposal, she said walking three-quarters of a mile would be dangerous for the blind who are not familiar with an area.

In 2008, UTA made about 500,000 paratransit trips, said Cherryl Beverage, a regional general manager for special services at UTA.

UTA is highly dependent on sales taxes for revenue. With the recession, fewer people are spending money and in 2009, UTA has factored a 1.6 percent decline of sales tax revenues from the 2008 budget of $18.7 million.

The current cut-back proposals come from a process that UTA began about a year ago, when it studied the future and brought together stakeholders such as churches and nonprofits, UTA general manager John Inglish said

UTA has identified 60 government programs that could assist with transporting the disabled community. Solutions must come "from a lot of different agencies, not just UTA," he said.

One of Inglish's suggestions was taxi vouchers that are available to some people.