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Report: Access-A-Ride hurt by wasteful spending

The MTA's Access-A-Ride program wastes an astonishing $30 million each year due to mismanaged funds, according to a New York Post article. The MTA reportedly spends $63 per ride for disabled passengers,

News 12 Staff

Aug 4, 2008, 5:28 PM

Updated 5,965 days ago

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The MTA's Access-A-Ride program wastes an astonishing $30 million each year due to mismanaged funds, according to a New York Post article.
The MTA reportedly spends $63 per ride for disabled passengers, making it one of the nation's most expensive bus service programs for wheelchair-bound and other disabled passengers.City taxpayers are estimated to shell out nearly $70 million in subsidies for the program by next year, according to the Post. Critics argue that too much money is being wasted, especially in a bad economy when taxpayers don't have extra money to give.
Critics argue that the financial mess could have been avoided if the city would have paid taxi fares for the riders who don't use wheelchairs.Access-A-Ride admits in its new budget that the program is costing an extra $9 million to $10 million a year because of "lower-than-anticipated productivity."
An MTA official says most of the problems are due to a booming demand for service. The agency plans to add new contracts with six more companies to boost efficiency.