In a unanimous vote members of the Culver City City Council rejected a recommendation to consider changing the fare charged to sight-impaired passengers using the city’s bus lines.
Currently sight-impaired passengers ride the city bus lines for free. The council rejected implementing a 35-cent fee despite the proposed change, which was triggered when a handwritten-letter was submitted to city by a man named James Stoudemire indicated that allowing the blind to ride for free “violates penal code section 640 3.A.”
“A couple of months ago staff received a complaint from a bus-riding passenger who alleged that the practice of providing free fares to the sight-impaired may be in violation of the law,” Transportation Director Art Ida said. “Specifically the individual complained that we may not give a benefit to the sight-impaired beyond what is being offered to other disabled persons or senior citizens.”
Culver CityBus operates eight routes that reach an estimated six million riders each year within its 25.5-square-mile area. Historically Culver CityBus has allowed blind passengers to ride for free. Other localities near Culver City that provide free public transit for sight-impaired patrons include Torrance Transit Systems and Long Beach Transit. Gardena Municipal Bus Lines recently changed its free rides for the blind practice and adopted a nominal fee for sight-impaired passengers after having received a similar complaint.
“His point was that because we are giving free fare to the blind, it’s discriminatory toward disabled persons,” Transportation Director Art Ida said during a public outreach meeting on June 18. “We referred it to the City Attorney’s Office. They looked at the PUC code. They feel that there is a concern of potential legal issues.”
Culver City resident Sammie Shipman, who is sight-impaired, commented on the difficulties a sight-impaired person would go through digging for coins to pay for the bus fare and offered a solution that would make riding the bus less complicated.
“I realize that there is no way around this fare for us so my solution is to make it 25 cents because MTA charges 25 cents,” Shipman said during public comment. “It is either that or no fare. Of course I would love it to be no fare.”
While there have been no published cases of a locality being taken to court over such an issue, the staff’s recommendation sought to prevent having such a legal battle.
“There are times in one’s life where you go ‘I need to stand up for what’s right’ and right now I am not hearing a convincing argument that we should move forward with the change in fare,”
Vice Mayor Micheál O’Leary said. “I am with my colleague; I am willing to risk this and I want to even say bring it on. I would like to be in that courtroom, I would like to hear that argument and I would like to win our argument. I think this is outrages.”