There are days when Joyce Rizzardi cries while waiting for one of the city’s public transit buses.

Her bad back makes it painful to walk the two blocks from her home to the nearest T bus stop. That’s why many days she rides the city’s para-transit bus system – which picks people up at their front door, if they are deemed to have a qualifying disability.

But budget concerns now are forcing city leaders to consider fare increases as well as tightening up the process that people must go through to be certified as eligible to use the door-to-door bus service. They’re also considering an across-the-board fee increase that would double ridership fares both on the T and the para-transit system.

“It’s a big issue because I know I would not be able to live independently if I didn’t have this service,” Rizzardi said.

In the future, people who want to use the service – which provided about 55,000 rides in 2006 – may need to get a note from a medical professional attesting that they have a disability that would make it difficult for them to use the city’s T.

Cliff Galante, public transit administrator for the city, said he is studying that policy change because the para-transit service is consistently spending more money than it has budgeted to serve a ridership that is growing at a rate twice that of the national average for para-transit service.

The application process the city uses is basically a “self-certification, honor system,” Galante said.

“I’m not saying there are people who are abusing the system today, but this would definitely help us avoid any future abuse,” Galante said.

Galante said the city last year had to unexpectedly add about $30,000 to its para-transit budget of $958,000 to accommodate the increase in para-transit riders. Through January of this year, the city has added about $5,500 to pay for increased ridership.

“In prior years, we’ve had a little more flexibility in our budget, but now it is becoming increasingly difficult to have that flexibility,” Galante said.

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act limits the number of times the city can deny a ride request from a qualifying individual. If Lawrence were found to have a “pattern of denial,” it could jeopardize the approximately $1.35 million in federal funding the city receives to help operate the T. It also could subject the city to a lawsuit, Galante said.

He said that’s why it is important to take additional steps to ensure that the people using the para-transit service truly have a qualifying disability.

Rizzardi, who does not own an automobile, said she understands the city’s position. She believes she would not have a problem getting a doctor’s note verifying her medical condition. But she said she worries that the system may make it easier for some people to fall through the cracks.

“What do you do for the people who maybe only have intermittent problems?” Rizzardi asked. “The T is available but it is not always accessible because when there’s snow and ice there are a lot of people who can’t walk through that to get to a bus stop.”

Fare increases

New policies also could put a hit on people’s pocketbooks. Galante said he’s studying the feasibility of increasing the fare for the para-transit service from $1 per ride to $2 per ride. That also would necessitate an increase in the fare for the T from 50 cents per ride to $1 per ride. Federal law will not allow a city to charge a para-transit fare that is more than double the fare of its fixed route service.

Galante said it likely is time, anyway, to increase the fare for the T, which was started in 2001.

“Our fares haven’t went up in the six years that we’ve been operating, but we’re certainly paying more to provide the service,” Galante said.

Rizzardi said she thought an increase in fares would do more to hurt riders than tightening the eligibility requirements. She estimated that on some months she makes 15 round trips per month, meaning a dollar increase would cost her an extra $30 per month.

“That would be a pretty good hit to my monthly income,” Rizzardi said.

Galante said if a fare increase were implemented, he would recommend that people with a qualifying disability would be allowed to ride the T for free. He said that should create an incentive for those individuals to ride the T, instead of the para-transit system, when feasible.

Public comment

Galante said a subcommittee of the city’s Public Transit Advisory Committee would help him draft new policies. Those policies would be available for public review in March and April. City commissioners would have to approve the changes before they became final. Galante said he might be ready to take proposed changes to city commissioners in late April or early May.

Some commissioners have said they would be willing to consider changing the policies.