Strike Forces Disabled Riders to Seek Alternatives

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December 10, 2007,  4:51 pm
Strike Forces Disabled Riders to Seek Alternatives

By Sewell Chan

The city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have prepared contingency plans in response to a strike by workers at four companies that provide van rides to up to 9,000 disabled, elderly or sick passengers each day in New York City under the Access-a-Ride program.

At the direction of their union, Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, an estimated 1,500 drivers and mechanics began a strike this morning at four companies: Atlantic Paratrans, the Maggies Paratransit Corporation, MV Transportation and the Transit Facility Management Corporation.

The four companies operate about half of the 60,000 to 70,000 daily scheduled rides provided each day under the paratransit program, which runs door-to-door van service for eligible residents who cannot use regular public transit.

In a telephone interview, Michael A. Harris, the executive director of the Disabled Riders Coalition, said the strike’s first day had already led to widespread hardship.

“We’ve gotten over 10 calls from people who have been left stranded, and people who’ve been trying to get through to the Paratransit Command Center for hours and cannot get through,” Mr. Harris, who uses a wheelchair, said. “We have people trying to get to kidney dialysis and cardiac appointments who cannot get there. We’ve had to book car services on our own.”

New York City Transit, the largest arm of the M.T.A., has promised to find alternative arrangements for all “subscription trips” — that is, regularly scheduled trips — and to prioritize medically essential trips, like trips for dialysis treatment, chemotherapy and other critical procedures.

The agency said it had also made arrangements with private ambulette carriers to supplement the work of the companies that are not on strike. The agency’s Paratransit Command Center is also trying to deploy other vehicles and drivers provided by other Access-A-Ride providers. Requests for rides should be made to the agency’s main paratransit customer service toll-free number: (877) 337-2017.

Several observers, however, said they were worried that the strike is causing hardships for disabled people. Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, said in a statement:

    For residents with disabilities and seniors here in Brooklyn, which is home to New York City’s largest senior population, any para-transit walkout — even for one day — can inflict enormous pain and hardship. In my recent call for the city to create a senior ombudsman’s office, I stated that allowable wait times for para-transit vehicles have been exceeding acceptable levels. Obviously, this strike means passengers are now waiting for rides that may never come. Any contingency plans to accommodate displaced riders are welcome; however, these residents deserve more respect and I implore both sides to come to an agreement as quickly as possible.

The Disabled Riders Coalition, an advocacy group for passengers with physical and other disabilities, has been urging a prompt resolution of the labor dispute, as has Assemblyman Micah Z. Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat who has cerebral palsy and has been active in the disability rights movement.

Mr. Kellner, who is the chairman of the coalition, met with Gov. Eliot Spitzer today and was reassured that the state commissioner of labor has offered to help mediate the labor dispute, Mr. Harris said. But it was not clear when the two sides would sit down at the bargaining table.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/strike-forces-disabled-riders-to-seek-alternatives/