Grand jury: Poorly coordinated public transit is hurting seniors
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2013-06-28/Community/Grand_jury_Poorly_coordinated_public_transit_is_hu.html
By Dawn Witlin, June 28, 2013
Traveling between cities in Ventura County generally means hitting
the freeway in an automobile. But for older residents who are no longer
able to drive, finding reliable public transportation to get from one
city to the next is not so easy.
A recent Ventura County grand jury report calls for transportation
officials to coordinate the county’s disparate bus systems, while
transit officials point to a lack of funding to address a problem
they’ve been aware of for years.
The grand jury’s yearlong investigation concluded in May that there
is little to no coordination among the county’s cities and their
respective transportation agency schedules, “making it difficult, if not
impossible,” for seniors to travel easily, according to the report.
“We found that while there are many transportation agencies which
just get you from point A to point B in any given city, there is no
cohesive way for seniors to get around the county,” said jury foreman
Jay Whitney.
The grand jury report found that bus routes, fees, stops and
schedules differ so greatly that many seniors find it difficult to plan
their travel route.
Camarillo Area Transit offers both in-town fixed routes and a pickup
by reservation service called Dial-A-Ride, which costs seniors $1.50 for
a one-way trip and $3 for round-trip travel.
Similar Dial-A-Ride services are offered in cities countywide but
operate on independent schedules and are difficult to coordinate, the
grand jury found.
Jane Raab, Camarillo Senior Center’s recreation supervisor, talks to
seniors daily who don’t want to take public transportation between
cities because of the confusing route schedule and lack of buses.
Raab said she recently helped an elderly woman plan a route from her
Camarillo home to visit an ailing friend at Community Memorial Hospital
in Ventura using public transportation.
The trip wasn’t easy and took nearly half the day.
The octogenarian transferred between three transportation service
providers in Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura, and reached her destination
in roughly three hours.
The same trip by car takes about 20 minutes.
“It’s really, really sad because Camarillo has one fixed-route bus,
and if you want to go on that fixed route, it’s really affordable, but
if you want to deviate from that route, it’s very, very difficult,” Raab
said.
The grand jury report also focused on seniors with disabilities that limit their mobility.
“Many seniors may not be able to walk to the bus stop, or even to the
curb, to avail themselves of a ride,” the report states. “In many cases
the senior feels isolated and no longer a part of the community.”
Another obstacle facing seniors without a driver’s license is travel costs, the report found.
“Aging is a major life transition that typically means leaving the
workforce and living on a fixed income that either does not vary over
time or rises modestly to cover a portion of annual inflation,” the
report said.
The report concluded with several recommendations to address the
transportation needs of a growing senior population. The suggestions
will be forwarded to local governing agencies.
The grand jury says the Ventura County Board of Supervisors should allocate funding for senior transportation programs.
In addition, the report recommends that an independent, nonelected
county administrator be assigned to oversee the collaboration of all the
transportation agencies in the county and produce strategies to
simplify senior transportation.
The grand jury report also calls for the Ventura County
Transportation Commission and the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging to
create new programs to help senior citizens find transportation within
their cities and throughout the county.
“The main thing is, rather than have this separation of entities,
there needs to be a way for the entities to act as one,” Whitney said.
“We would like to see a unified plan countywide, and it just seems like a
glaring omission for that not to have been done already.”
Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long said that while changes to the
county’s transportation system are necessary, she disagrees with the
jury’s recommendation to appoint a new administrator to represent
seniors.
“I don’t know if I agree with having an independent person because
all the county’s jurisdictions would have to agree to empower that
person to be able to advocate for the seniors,” Long said. “Every
elected official will say, ‘That’s what I’m here for.’”
Long said existing agencies and city representatives have to work together to address senior transportation needs.
VCTC Executive Director Darren Kettle agrees with most of the grand
jury’s findings but blames a lack of funding for complicated bus
connections and lengthy bus stop wait times.
“One of the things the report talked about is improved connections,
and one of the only ways you’re able to do that is by having more
frequency of service.” Kettle said. “We simply have a very modest level
of public transportation services because we only have so much funding
throughout the county for public transportation.”
Kettle said as the economy continues to shows signs of recovery, VCTC
may receive additional state and federal funding to address the issue
of senior transportation.
“Thanks to slight improvements to the budget in the past few years
because of the improving economy, we are going to be devoting more staff
to trying to look at the coordination and connections between our
transportation systems so we have better connections,” Kettle said.
“While it’s great that the grand jury recognized these areas of concern,
we identified it years ago and have been working to find a solution.”
The grand jury has no special authority to take legal action against
the individuals, businesses or institutions it investigates, but the
agencies mentioned in the report have an obligation to respond.
VCTC and the Board of Supervisors will each send a detailed response
to the grand jury to address their findings in next 30 to 90 days.