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Residents Offer Ideas to
Improve Transit for Disabled, Elderly May 14, 2003 Humboldt County's public transit
system may be underserving the needs of the elderly and disabled. At least, that was what
residents told the Board of Supervisors at its annual hearing on unmet
transit needs Tuesday. Expanding Dial-A-Ride service to
the unincorporated areas, providing more bus service countywide on the
evenings and weekends, and finding additional measures to help the blind
access public transit were some of the ideas brought forth from the dozen
or so residents who attended Tuesday's meeting. Humboldt Hill resident Marie
Catchpool, who is confined to a wheelchair, told the board of her own
troubles accessing bus services and Dial-A-Ride services. Long waits,
limited service hours and other hassles often result in missed
appointments, as well as hardship for people like Catchpool. "It makes you not want to
go out in the world because it's so hard to make people understand,"
Catchpool said. Eureka resident Norman Peterson,
who is blind, told the board he has a difficult time knowing when to cross
intersections. Peterson proposed installing audible traffic signals to fix
the problem. Also, a number of disabled and elderly people on fixed
incomes find public transportation expensive. Peterson suggested a voucher
system that would allow cheap or free transportation to the elderly and
disabled yet still provide transit authorities with proof the services are
being used. The county gets about $1.7
million annually in state Transportation Development Act money. Last year
the county used about $1 million in unmet transit needs, then used the
rest for road maintenance, which it is allowed to do under the provisions
of the act. In recent weeks, the county and cities have held public
hearings to get ideas on ways it can use this money to improve service in
the county. After hearing from residents
Tuesday, the board voted to forward the residents' ideas to the Humboldt
County Association of Governments, an interagency group that includes
representatives from the county and cities. The association is expected to
hold its own public hearing on unmet transit needs May 29 at 7 p.m. at
Eureka City Hall. In another matter, the board
Tuesday unanimously approved a West Nile virus monitoring and response
plan. West Nile virus is an
insect-transmitted pathogen spread through the bite of an infected
mosquito. The virus has sickened nearly 4,200 -- and killed 277 --
nationwide over the past four years. Even though the county has had a
record amount of rainfall this spring, county officials said the disease
has little chance of hitting the county because of its coastal climate and
lack of a mosquito that can pass along the disease. The plan approved by the board
includes distributing public information, human and veterinary case
surveillance, mosquito and bird surveillance, mosquito control measures
and response thresholds. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
