File photo
Local advocates gathered at the Clinton County Government Center last week to express their grievances about the county’s proposed paratransit changes.
PLATTSBURGH — As lawmakers weigh plans to alter paratransit operations in Clinton County, disability advocates met in Plattsburgh last week to express their grievances about the proposed new plan.
“Transportation is one of the biggest things that disabled people have to contend with,” said North Country Center for Independence Executive Director Robert Poulin. “We need more accessibility, not less access.”
Clinton County is considering eliminating their paratransit transport bus service and replacing it with an on-demand option that will see buses deviating from their regular routes in order to accommodate disabled passengers.
NCCI held an event last Friday at the Clinton County Government Center to raise awareness about the pending changes.
At present, the wheelchair-accessible bus fleet provides transport for disabled passengers who cannot utilize the regular bus routes.
“The county, I believe, has good intentions,” said resident and advocate Debra Buell. “But I would like to see the county construct a new plan.
“It should not be blamed on the disabled and the elderly for a system failure,” said Buell, who uses a mobility device.
The annual operating budget for the total transit system is $1.3 million annually.
Requests for paratransit trips have doubled over the last 18 months, said CCPT Planning Technician James Bosley. The department is unable to provide all of the trips being requested with their current resources.
The county must now either expand the service or explore alternatives.
“Deviation is perfect for a more sparsely populated area,” said Buell, who took a large, rainbow-colored soccer ball in one hand and a small funnel in another. “But with the current system — with riders from rural, fixed route and deviation services all in one...”
Buell put the soccer ball atop the funnel — where it sat, unmoving.
“NCCI has brought this to the attention of the county for years,” she said.
Advocates brought forward a variety of grievances at the meeting, from the need for stop announcements to aid the illiterate and blind, to better access to travel training for the disabled, to increasing the size of bus stops to accommodate wheelchairs and ADA compliancy issues in the city.
“This city already has a huge problem with accessibility,” said Poulin.
Buell encouraged all those who attended the meeting to call their county legislators to voice their concerns, and sign a petition, which NCCI plans to send on to the state Department of Transportation and the Clinton County Legislature.
“We believe the proposed plan has not been approved by the (DOT). We believe the impact on every bus rider cannot be calculated ... We respectfully request that the (DOT) assist Clinton County in conducting the test to property address these concerns.”
County lawmakers conducted a series of meetings last week to foster open discussion with the public and stakeholder agencies on how to identify and meet transportation needs.
“I think the approach now is to go with a pilot program,” said Legislator Chris Rosenquest (Area 9). “Just to gauge to see how it’s going and make sure that there’s minimal impact to our ridership. We want to make sure we’re on track with what the community needs.”
The next Clinton County Transportation Committee meeting is June 12 at 5:15 p.m. in the Clinton County Government Center.
“The plan is to have a transportation meeting next week and the planning department will present the work they’ve done so far on this new service,” said Legislator Simon Conroy (Area 4). “We look forward to fine tuning the plan. At this point, it’s unlikely that people would not continue to work on this plan. The plan will be worked on and improved and possibly go into service as soon as September.
“The positive thing is that we’re trying to develop a plan so that public transit remains in place and serves the needs in a sustainable and affordable way.”
