Make Access-A-Ride renewal process easier, pols say

June 3, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis says the process Access-A-Ride passengers have to go through to renew the service is too cumbersome. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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Frail elderly New Yorkers who rely on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Access-A-Ride program to get to doctor’s appointments should not have to jump through hoops to remain eligible for the service, according to two lawmakers fighting to change the system.

Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (R-C-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) and state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-C-Staten Island) have introduced bills in their respective legislative houses to streamline the process of re-certification for Access-A-Ride, the door-to-door transportation service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for senior citizens and physically disabled people unable to use buses and subways.

Under current law, Access-A-Ride users must apply for renewal every five years. The process involves endless paperwork, reports from doctors to support their claims of limited mobility and physical exams at Access-A-Ride offices, according to Malliotakis, who the whole process contains too much red tape.

“It’s cruel to put somebody who is 85 or 90 years old through all that,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Malliotakis said that many senior citizens have come to her and Lanza for help in navigating the red tape. And many of the applications are denied by the MTA, she added. There is an appeals process, but even that is cumbersome, she said. “By the time they get to my office, they’re on their second appeal. We have successfully fought for Access-A-Ride for many of our seniors. But they shouldn’t have to go through all of this,” she said.

The legislation proposed by Malliotakis and Lanza seeks to establish an easier recertification for paratransit subscribers who are at least 80 years old. Under their bills, Access-A-Ride users who are 80 years old or older would be required only to produce correspondence from their physician indicating that their need for transit service remains. There would be no other requirements.

“For those who are qualified to receive this service, this legislation will reduce the bureaucratic reapplication process,” Lanza said in a statement.

“The issue is that the re-certification process is unfair to people who really need the service. If someone is 85 years old and they have needed the service up to this point, it’s not likely that their physical condition is going to improve to a point where they no longer need the service,” Malliotakis said.

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the agency normally doesn’t comment on pending legislation.

But Ortiz also sought to clarify the re-certification process.

“While we do not comment on pending legislation, it’s important to note that our recertification protocols are in place to prevent abuse of the program. Age is not a factor in the ADA criteria for eligibility, nor is medical diagnosis. Every Access-A-Ride applicant must undergo an in-person assessment that is pivotal in determining whether their condition prevents the use of regular fixed-route transit service. This process is in full compliance with the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act for the delivery of paratransit service,” he wrote in an email to the Eagle.

Ortiz also wrote that the MTA does take a rider’s long-term health issues into consideration.

“There is already an eligibility category deemed ‘Continual.’ This is considered for individuals who cannot use regular NYC Transit buses or subways under any circumstances and whose disability is unlikely to improve and determined likely to become more sever. Customers who have continual eligibility do not need to be recertified every five years and do not have to return to an assessment center. Instead, these customers are sent a form requesting an update of their information every five years in order for us to verify and update our records,” he wrote.