MTA expands Access-A-Ride program – but limits number of trips

The MTA’s popular e-hail Access-A-Ride program will expand to include more disabled New Yorkers, the agency announced Tuesday — although critics griped that it now includes the “rationing” of trips.

For two years, a test group of 1,200 disabled New Yorkers has been able to order on-demand, $2.75 rides using their smartphones — whereas Access-A-Ride users have to schedule trips at least 24 hours in advance.

Now the MTA plans to double the number of e-hail participants But while it expands its base of users, it is limiting their number of trips to 16 per month and capping their per-ride subsidy at $15.

Agency officials said it was making the move because costs could get out of hand, since the increased convenience will likely promote more trips.

The agency is projected to spend $616 million on Access-A-Ride services this year. Expanding on-demand e-hails without any constraints would add hundreds of millions of dollars to that tab, subway accessibility boss Alex Elgudin told MTA board members at their Tuesday Transit Committee meeting.

“There is no question that on-demand provides greater flexibility, but it is not a replacement for traditional [Access-A-Ride] service – not yet,” Elegudin said. “As we look to expand our on-demand service, we must do so in a fiscally responsible manner. We have seen through the pilot per date that the increase in trip volume more than outweighs the increase in trip savings.”

Money can be saved through the e-hails because the app eliminates the need for specially contracted drivers, instead going to such businesses as Curb and Uber.

Only 23 percent of subway stations have elevators, making the program vital for many disabled public-transit users.

Testifying before MTA board members Tuesday, disability advocates expressed outrage at the e-hail changes.

“Are you rationing people on the subway … and saying they can only limit themselves to so many trips?” asked Jean Ryan of the group Disabled in Action.

Valerie Williams told MTA board members, “[E-hail] has improved my ability to travel 110 percent.

“There’s train stations by me that [are] not accessible,” she said. “I like the freedom to be able to come and go like every other human being.”

Instead of capping the number of trips per person, the MTA should now specifically expand the program to Access-A-Ride registrants who do not frequently use the service as a way to curb costs at first, while expanding the market, said Brooklyn Center for the Independence of the Disabled Executive Director Joe Rappaport to The Post.

“The first pilot’s participants included many high-volume users, since people mostly found out about the program by word of mouth,” Rappaport said. “A second phase should include riders who don’t use Access-A-Ride now very much, to get a better idea of what a full program would look like.”

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