On Feb. 24, the Illinois House voted 83-27 to drastically reduce the free rides for seniors program on Illinois public transit. The plan would cap the income of seniors eligible for free rides to $27,610 a year per person, or $34,635 for couples.
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For fixed-income seniors who are dealing with rising costs, especially skyrocketing health care costs, the elimination of the free rides will be a blow deeply felt.
A 68-year-old CTA rider interviewed by PSLweb.org at the Howard Red Line stop said, “I need my free rides. I can’t pay even $10 a month to ride the train. Riding the train is the only way I get around. Look at us, seniors and the disabled, we need public transportation.”
The Seniors Ride Free program began in 2008. Then-Governor Blagojevich introduced the Free Rides program to counterbalance increased taxes for transit.
The Free Rides program was a great advance for workers who had contributed tax dollars for decades and who now were able to access public transportation at no cost. Most seniors on a fixed income could not afford to pay both increased taxes and even reduced fares for public transportation.
According to a report by the University of Illinois, over two-thirds of seniors enrolled in the Free Rides program have an annual income of less than $55,000. With the proposed caps, more than 70 percent of seniors enrolled in the Free Rides program would no longer qualify.
PSLweb.org also interviewed CTA riders about their reactions to the proposed reduction in the Free Rides program on the South Side. According to one rider, the program should be expanded to include other workers throughout the city.
“I think we should keep the free rides. My mother would use the Free Rides program if she were old enough. We pay so much for transit as it is—this is a benefit that families need.”
Another rider explained the growing frustration with continued cuts to public services in general and, in particular, Chicago public transportation. “I hear there are going to be budget cuts again in October. This is unacceptable. I want to know why the president is doing nothing about it.”
Public transportation is a service that workers are due, and it should be free and accessible. Any attack on access to public transportation is an attack on all workers, both young and old. The proposed cut to the Free Rides program is just another strategy to divide and further weaken the fight for transit. Just over two weeks before the House vote, the Chicago Transit Authority laid off over a 1,000 bus drivers, and slashed bus and train service.
As the cuts continue to mount, RTA workers, riders and seniors shoulder the ever growing burden of an economic crisis created and caused not by them, but by the banks. Hands off free rides for seniors! Public transportation is a right!
To get involved in the fight for public transit in Chicago, go to http://www.noctacuts.org
