Any SCAT price increase must be reasonable
A statement that City Council member Florence Gatten recently made, "Greensboro is the only transit system in the country offering the unlimited-ride pass" (for paratransit), is false. In just a few hours, I found 15 systems offering an unlimited ride pass for paratransit and four systems offering free paratransit.
The GTA task force is proposing that the unlimited monthly pass for SCAT riders be eliminated. They are asking these folks to absorb an immediate increase of $1.62 per ride. (The monthly pass costs $35. Based on 60 rides per month, the price per ride is 58 cents. The full fare for SCAT would be $2.20, an increase of $1.62.)
The task force wants regular bus riders to absorb a 10-cent increase per ride and SCAT riders to absorb $1.62 per ride? This is a rate-hike tsunami. The monthly cost of someone riding 60 times per month would increase from $35 to $132.
Please contact the City Council and urge them to increase the cost of unlimited ride passes for SCAT riders in reasonable increments.
Please attend the City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. today.
SCAT riders are not asking for a free ride, just a fair one.
Claire Holmes
Greensboro
Comments (4)
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Okay, maybe it's just me but I have never liked the SCAT name. The person or committee who decided on the name must have never hunted. Everytime I see one of those buses fly by with that logo I think, "There goes another pile of it." I might be more receptive to their problems if it had been called Piedmont Area Transit or something similar
Posted on June 6, 2006 9:50 AM
j.schmoe,
make a visit to the bell house down on 2400 summit and visit some beautiful folks. you will immediately notice that each person there is in a wheel chair and the half dozen i know there are at the mercy of medicade/medicare and don't have the additional funds to pay for scat increase. scat is their lifeline to the outside world and they are the least likely to be able to pay for these increases. but i agree with you about thre name.
Posted on June 6, 2006 11:47 AM
Buz,
I agree. I believe we have a responsibility to people to help these in our society who are physically and mentally handicapped have a productive and enjoyable life. They are often in their situation due to no fault of their own and SCAT provides an invaluable service.
I have known several folks who depend on SCAT and many of them have jobs that pay around minimum wage. In my opinion, it would be a tragedy to take away these people's way of living something resembling a normal life.
Posted on June 6, 2006 11:58 AM
Buz,
I have friends at Bell House and I agree totally. Thank goodness we didn't wait for the Private Sector to take over public transit---only people riding would be the maids going to Irving Park.
Posted on June 6, 2006 3:28 PM