JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Jacksonville residents with disabilities who use JTA\u2019s Connexion Plus service saw their fares spike Thursday, with some riders\u2019 average fares nearly tripling.<\/p>\n
Previously, trips of 15 miles or less would cost $6.<\/p>\n
An extra $2 charge was applied for every additional mile.<\/p>\n
Now, trips of 12 miles or less will cost $10, with an extra $2.50 for every additional mile.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n The rate hikes come as JTA works to manage the cost of the premium paratransit service and disability advocates are continuing to look for a solution that would cut costs for JTA and bring rates back down.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it used to be $12 round trip and today it would be 34, $35 round trip,\u201d said Sharon Dykes, Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living Jacksonville.<\/p>\n Dykes explained even on day one, those new rates are having a major impact.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reports that we\u2019ve received are that people have quit their jobs,\u201d said Dykes. \u201dThey can\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n But Dykes is hopeful the rate hikes could be reversed.<\/p>\n She\u2019s pitched a plan that would limit the single-rider Connexion Plus service to only trips of eight or more miles, which she estimates could reduce operating costs by as much as $4 million.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to take a while, but I do think that the authority is working towards that,\u201d said Dykes.<\/p>\n In the meantime, JTA has rolled out another single-rider option to help disabled riders keep costs low.<\/p>\n The agency is offering $20 vouchers through Uber for up to ten trips a week for qualified riders.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough conversations with our paratransit partners, offering an Uber option for shorter trips emerged as a valuable idea. Alongside reducing the standard Connexion fare to $2, we\u2019re taking an all-options-on-the-table approach to deliver solutions that enhance the customer experience while reducing service costs and improving flexibility and affordability for our customers,\u201d said a JTA spokesperson in a statement.<\/p>\n Dykes said it will be a big help for some, but for riders like her who rely on wheelchairs to get around, it may not be a workable option.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they\u2019re working on the wheelchair side of the Uber because that platform isn\u2019t exactly known for picking up wheelchairs,\u201d said Dykes.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in opting in to JTA\u2019s new Connexion Uber program, you can apply here<\/a>.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Jacksonville residents with disabilities who use JTA\u2019s Connexion Plus service saw their fares spike Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[982,98736,11452,98739,98737,969,116,118,117,55599,10417,98735,799,634,13088,98738,6312],"class_list":{"0":"post-216851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news","9":"tag-center_for_independent_living_jacksonville","10":"tag-connection","11":"tag-dykes","12":"tag-executive_director","13":"tag-jack","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","16":"tag-jacksonville-news","17":"tag-jake_stan","18":"tag-jake_stowan","19":"tag-jejta","20":"tag-jta","21":"tag-local","22":"tag-plus","23":"tag-sharon_dykes","24":"tag-uber"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}