When National Federation of the Blind Colorado director Jessica Beecham settled into her Uber ride recently, the driver refused service. She objected to Beecham’s guide dog, Prada, a 70-pound German Shepherd. Beecham stayed put. The driver called the police.
A Littleton officer forced Beecham and Prada out, apparently misunderstanding federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. A sergeant later called Beecham and apologized.
It’s a clash reflecting the pervasive obstacles people with disabilities face as they move around Denver and other U.S. cities. Four years ago, the Regional Transportation District launched a pioneering program to improve that mobility, building on an existing “paratransit” minibus system, by giving thousands of metro Denver residents with disabilities free taxpayer-subsidized rides on Uber and other commercial services.
But, in the face of rising costs, RTD managers have begun cutting the Access-on-Demand program and are considering deeper cuts.
“For us, driving isn’t an option. We need transit,” said Beecham, 39, who is blind and runs a food service company. “We want to participate fully in society. Nobody wants to be shut in their home. We want to be able to go to work, take our kids to school, and participate in activities. We want to be able to go to a musical festival, go shopping, go to a beautiful park.”
Disability rights activists in Denver first targeted public transportation as a primary obstacle with a “Gang of 19” protestors in 1978 that blocked RTD buses downtown at Colfax and Broadway. They got RTD to accommodate wheelchairs on all buses and helped drive a nationwide accessibility movement.
Six years later, RTD officials added the “paratransit” minibus service, called Access-a-Ride, for people who, due to disabilities, cannot use buses or light rail trains. The minibusses require day-before reservations (standard fare $4.50), cost RTD more than $60 per trip, and riders complain that they fail to reach their destinations on time. In 2020, RTD leaders resolved to do better and launched the Access-on-Demand, one of the first comprehensive programs in the nation to provide taxpayer-funded commercial rideshare service for people with disabilities. It gives qualified riders up to 60 rides a month to locations they choose using Uber, Lyft, Metro Taxi, or zTrip. RTD pays up to $25 per ride, typically covering riders’ costs (the average ride cost is $16).
Other transit agencies are exploring publicly funded rideshare options. In Boston, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority pays qualified riders with disabilities up to $40 a ride, with a cap of no more than 40 rides a month. In Washington, D.C., transit riders registered as disabled receive free rideshare service. New Jersey cities and Dallas cover much of the cost for rides within certain zones.
In metro Denver, riders with disabilities embraced the RTD program. The number of rides they took increased tenfold from 6,250 a month in January 2021 to more than 62,750 a month, agency records show.
RTD’s monthly cost for Access-on-Demand has ballooned to more than $1 million.
RTD managers recently told their agency’s board of directors that the program isn’t financially sustainable. RTD directors must decide how much the agency can afford.
Francesca Maes and her mobility dog Simba do some shopping at a grocery store in Thornton on Oct. 21, 2024. Maes, 65, relies on Uber/Lyft rides subsidized by RTD’s “Access-On-Demand” program to get to a pharmacy for her transportation needs. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
At the start of the year, RTD officials began reducing rideshare costs by prohibiting the use of “multi-stop” options that let, for example, riders drop off children at schools on the way to jobs or grocery stores as part of a single trip. Additional program cuts under consideration could reduce the monthly rides allotment to 30 and require riders to pay a base fare of $5. RTD manager Deb Johnson also has said the program must be changed to deal with a problem not related to the cost — “equitability” — because Access-on-Demand, available 24 hours a day, favors blind riders, discriminating against riders who use wheelchairs due to lack of wheelchair lifts in many Uber and Lyft vehicles.
Denver riders with disabilities have packed the RTD’s citizen comment forums, urging directors to reconsider cuts. Disability rights advocates also urged RTD leaders to weigh in with Uber and Lyft to make sure drivers accept riders with service animals — company policy. Last month, Beecham helped lead street protesters who converged from around the country at Uber and Lyft headquarters in San Francisco and demanded that drivers comply with ADA requirements to accept service dogs.
Nearly 70% of people with disabilities in metro Denver are unemployed, and reliable transit plays a key role for those who seek self-sufficiency, said Curtis Chong, 70, a longtime member of the National Federation of the Blind who has worked for years to create more job opportunities for people with disabilities.
“Transportation is something everyone needs or they become prisoners in their homes,” Chong said. “If our society and the RTD can do it, they ought to keep this program going. People have gotten used to having rides at the level it is at. They’re going to get hurt if there is a reduction in the service.”
RTD managers declined to discuss the issue. The agency’s communications team sent an emailed response to questions saying RTD “is committed to civil rights and transit equity.”
Elected directors have asked to review staff recommendations before any vote on more cuts.
Francesca Maes rides in an Uber with her mobility dog Simba on their way to a grocery store in Thornton on Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Public funding to ensure mobility for people with disabilities is money “that has to be spent,” said RTD director Jaime Lewis, who uses a wheelchair. “Access-on-Demand has opened up a whole new world for some of our riders. They’re doing things they were never able to do before.”
Access-on-demand should be treated as a success, not a burden, he said. “This is what our job is, to move people. We have growth in disabled riders. That’s great.”
RTD board chairman Erik Davidson said the agency “has been at the forefront” and that “we remain committed to providing leading services,” promising directors will weigh proposed cuts against community concerns.
Metro Denver residents with disabilities who rely on Access-on-Demand said affordable transit has increased their ability to live independently, stay employed, and handle child-rearing duties. While RTD’s paratransit minibusses can be useful, many riders see them as too inconsistent and slow for modern life.
“Without transportation, we cannot know the city. We cannot explore the city. We cannot work in the city,” said Barbara Mosby, 70, who is blind and helps find jobs for people who must assure employers they can be there each day. “Our needs aren’t that different from those of everybody else — except that we cannot drive.”
In suburban Thornton, Francesca Maes, 65, who is blind, gets by on $900 a month, living alone. RTD’s free rideshares transformed her life, she said. Otherwise, she’d need $300 a month to cover the cost of rides to medical appointments, along with runs to the grocery store and pharmacy, she calculated — unaffordable on her income.
Francesca Maes snuggles her mobility dog Simba at their home in Thornton on Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
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Two years ago, a Lyft driver hassled her service animal, Simba, a 90-pound golden retriever, yanking the dog from a vehicle as he refused service. That incident shook Maes’ confidence and now she often leaves Simba at home when she takes RTD’s subsidized rides. “I’m worried about him being mistreated.”
Navigating with just her cane is “very difficult,” and RTD service cuts would confine her more, Maes said, adding that staying home for lack of transit makes her feel “claustrophobic” and isolated.
In the coming months, people with disabilities in metro Denver will demand that RTD provide better public transit, including Access-on-Demand, said Dawn Russell, 59, a leader of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT). She relies on RTD’s subsidized rides to travel from her home northwest of Denver to Denver International Airport for flights to Washington, D.C., where she’s been helping to craft national legislation to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities.
“Not everyone can have access to everything but if you have access to basic things life isn’t as complicated. If we’re still having trouble with transit, how hopeful can you be if you are a newly disabled person? It’s an awesome problem to be working through. And these are things we are sure we can win.”