Previous Story
Disability advocacy group backs public transportation bill
|
Posted on Nov 08 2005
A U.S.-based disability advocacy group has called on local senators to pass a measure that would promote public transportation in the Commonwealth.
Jennifer Dexter, assistant vice president for government relations of Easter Seals Disability Service, said the creation of a CNMI Transit Authority would increase the access of people with disabilities to transportation.
“There is currently no public transportation system in the CNMI and while transportation does exist in the form of private automobiles and vehicles operated by the tourist industry, many people with disabilities and older adults are without any reliable, accessible, affordable transportation,” Dexter said in a letter to Sen. Diego Songao, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communication.
House Bill No. 14-318, authored by Rep. Claudio Norita, would result in more accessible and adequate transportation services for senior citizens and persons with disabilities, Dexter said.
“Please support passage of the bill in the Senate,” she asked Songao.
Pacific Development Inc., a tour company, recently terminated the Call-a-Ride program, which provided transportation for people with disabilities.
The Office of Aging is currently in charge of the insufficiently funded program.
Norita’s bill seeks to establish a CNMI Office of Transit Authority within the Office of the Governor. This office would be responsible for reviewing, applying, receiving, managing, and using federal grants from the Federal Transit Administration. The office should also assess the Commonwealth’s transportation needs and develop a viable public transportation system.
According to the bill, the CNMI could have applied for over $2 million in grants from the FTA from fiscal year 2004 to 2003, but failed to do so because it did not have an agency handling this matter.
