Second of two parts
Re “One Person Behind City’s Plan to Start Charging the Blind”
[Editor’s Note: Tonight at 6 o’clock, City Transportation Director Art Ida will convene a public outreach meeting in the ground floor Dan Patacchia Room, City Hall, to air the feelings of community members about a proposed 35-cent fare next month for blind riders of the Culver CityBus.]
When Transportation Director Art Ida recently fielded a complaint from a crippled man who said it was unfair to charge him 35 cents bus fare while allowing blind persons to ride free, Mr. Ida’s first move was to take the accusation to City Atty. Carol Schwab.
As City Manager John Nachbar noted, “we took conservative legal advice.”
“There was enough concern that we took into account that maybe we should go ahead and do this,” Mr. Ida said.
Instead of carving an outrageously expensive legal path to a downtown courtroom, City Hall, being fiscally prudent, opted to forego a messy, costly firefight and square the fee for all said to be disabled.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the singular fee hike for the blind at its Monday, July 14, meeting.
Culver City is one of four transportation systems that has been gobsmacked lately for similar reasons. Torrance, Gardena and Long Beach are the others.
At 35 cents, whether sightless or otherwise crippled, riders of Culver CityBus are catching a break.
Under federal funding guidelines, Mr. Ida explained, crippled persons are to be charged half of the regular fare, now $1.
“At the last fare change (to $1),” he said, “I decided not to raise the fare for the disabled. I kept it at 35 cents. I just made the determination to keep it lower than what the requirement is.”
Mr. Ida has not taken any heat for his compassionate call.
