CT should dig deeper to help disabled riders first

Community Transit should try again to find $60,000 for disabled riders.

Last week, the bus system, which serves most of Snohomish County, restored $3 million worth of the services cut in February. Those cuts were in reaction to the passage of Initiative 695, which canceled a vehicle license tax that provided about a third of the agency’s budget.

CT’s board of directors, composed of elected representatives from city councils and the Snohomish County Council, adopted a package of restorations that made very good sense overall. The plan followed the priorities laid down by a review process that allowed an impressive level of opportunity for public involvement. Both the agency’s management and the board showed good judgment in following the priorities developed by a service restoration committee of citizens and employees.

The restored service includes 85 percent of CT’s Saturday bus runs, which were dropped in February as part of the elimination of all weekend service. The plan also made some carefully targeted moves to provide help for commuters going to Boeing’s Everett plant and Seattle. That’s all for the good, especially when you consider that the Saturday service restoration helps large numbers of disabled riders who use either regular bus routes or the special door-to-door service called DART.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Still, at least 15 disabled individuals who lost service in February have no obvious prospects for relief. CT staff estimated that it would cost $57,000 to provide door-to-door service for disabled individuals whose homes were along regular routes that had to be abandoned in the service cuts. The analysis was prepared at the request of a disabilities-services advocate. Staff members recommended against the advocate’s request to move ahead on restoring the disabled riders’ service ahead of the regular bus service in their neighborhoods.

There’s a perfectly intelligent case to be made against the special treatment, especially in terms of fairness to all riders and sticking to a 1996 policy against such grandfathering of disabled services when route changes must be made. In fact, some disabled riders argue against the request for $57,000 in special restorations for them.

Hanging over the discussion is the difficult reality that the $3 million in service restorations is entirely because of special help from the Legislature. There’s no guarantee that the state aid will continue next year.

Even under such a stressful situation, however, the board of directors can extend itself to make a more compassionate choice. With an operating budget of around $50 million per year, the board could surely find a way to come up with the $57,000. The board – or someone on it – can insist upon stepping back and asking who has suffered most in the budget cuts. And then the board can decide to do just a little extra in hurrying service restorations for the disabled riders.

For good reasons, CT has substantial reservoirs of public support. Part of that is because area residents understand the social service aspect of transit service. It’s up to board members to take that understanding into a little extra account here, even as they seek to make the excellent case for additional state or local sources of money to restore service for everyone.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

June 11, 2025: Tear Gaslighting
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, June 12

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

In a gathering similar to many others across the nation on Presidents Day, hundreds lined Broadway with their signs and chants to protest the Trump administration Monday evening in Everett. (Aaron Kennedy / Daily Herald)
Editorial: Let’s remember the ‘peaceably’ part of First Amendment

Most of us understand the responsibilities of free speech; here’s how we remind President Trump.

Will public get a vote on downtown Everett stadium?

I see The Herald is enthusiastic about the push to build a… Continue reading

How are Trump’s actions the ‘will of the people’?

Calling up the National Guard is usually done in concert with a… Continue reading

Call constitutional convention for balanced budget amendment

Congress has not managed the federal purse well. We have been running… Continue reading

Comment: So much for RFK Jr.’s pledge of ‘choice’ on vaccines

His latest action confirms his intention to delist specific vaccines, making them less affordable.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer testifies during a budget hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Al Drago/The New York Times)
Editorial: Ending Job Corps a short-sighted move by White House

If it’s jobs the Trump administration hopes to bring back to the U.S., it will need workers to fill them.

A rendering of possible configuration for a new multi-purpose stadium in downtown Everett. (DLR Group)
Editorial: Latest ballpark figures drive hope for new stadium

A lower estimate for the project should help persuade city officials to move ahead with plans.

A rendering of the new vessels to be built for Washington State Ferries. (Washington State Ferries)
Editorial: Local shipyard should get shot to build state ferries

If allowed to build at least two ferries, Nichols Brothers can show the value building here offers.

THis is an editorial cartoon by Michael de Adder . Michael de Adder was born in Moncton, New Brunswick. He studied art at Mount Allison University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing and painting. He began his career working for The Coast, a Halifax-based alternative weekly, drawing a popular comic strip called Walterworld which lampooned the then-current mayor of Halifax, Walter Fitzgerald. This led to freelance jobs at The Chronicle-Herald and The Hill Times in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

After freelancing for a few years, de Adder landed his first full time cartooning job at the Halifax Daily News. After the Daily News folded in 2008, he became the full-time freelance cartoonist at New Brunswick Publishing. He was let go for political views expressed through his work including a cartoon depicting U.S. President Donald Trump’s border policies. He now freelances for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, the Toronto Star, Ottawa Hill Times and Counterpoint in the USA. He has over a million readers per day and is considered the most read cartoonist in Canada.

 

Michael de Adder has won numerous awards for his work, including seven Atlantic Journalism Awards plus a Gold Innovation Award for news animation in 2008. He won the Association of Editorial Cartoonists' 2002 Golden Spike Award for best editorial cartoon spiked by an editor and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists 2014 Townsend Award. The National Cartoonists Society for the Reuben Award has shortlisted him in the Editorial Cartooning category. He is a past president of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists and spent 10 years on the board of the Cartoonists Rights Network.
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, June 11

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Marcus Tageant (Courtesy of City of Lake Stevens)
Welch: Marcus Tageant embodied the spirit of Lake Stevens

I served with Marcus on the city council, witnessing an infectious devotion to his community.

Comment: Anti-‘woke’ crusades by Hegseth, Rubio petty, dangerous

Focused on renaming ships and scrubbing websites, the department heads risk their distraction.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.