An additional $10,850 from the Utah Transit Authority will improve the level of transportation service for the handicapped in the county, the Davis County Commission learned Monday, but the service will still be streamlined, leaving a few unhappy users.
The additional $10,850 from UTA brings the county's handicap transportation service budget up to about $116,000, program coordinator Kay Orton told the commissioners Monday.Orton said the special buses, equipped with lifts for wheelchairs and other equipment to service the handicapped, will run 61/2 hours per day instead of the previous 10 1/2 hours. Without the grant, the hours would have been reduced to five per day, she said.
There are 169 persons in the county registered for the service, and Orton said 50 to 55 use it daily.
The buses will cover the same four routes, Orton said, but consolidating the hours will increase the passenger density on individual buses, making the program more efficient. She agreed the consolidated hours will be inconvenient for some users, who she said will arrive at their Salt Lake or Ogden destinations earlier than in the past.
But Orton said the handicapped transportation program has been running at an annual deficit of $20,000 a year - funds that had to be taken from other county human services programs.
UTA was funding at the $98,000 level annually, and the users generated $7,000 in fare revenue, paying 75 cents per trip, Orton said. Her department considered raising fares but decided it wouldn't generate enough additional revenue to cover the shortfall, Orton said.
Most of the program's users are working people, supporting themselves and their families, she said. The new schedule is built around an eight-hour day, serving the users who work.
"Many of the clients using this transportation service are employed full-time and are supporting themselves," according to Orton. "Others use the service as their only means of receiving dialysis, therapy, or other medical services."
Orton said UTA told her department Thursday that the additional money would be available.