Jill Schramm/MDN Souris Basin Transportation passenger Kyle Erickson exits a paratransit bus at Minot State University Jan. 14.

Paratransit riders in Minot have been raising questions and concerns about a new certification that will be necessary after July 1 to establish eligibility for transportation services under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

The certification process isn’t new, but it hasn’t been active under the city’s contract with Souris Basin Transportation to provide in-city paratransit services along with the demand-response services SBT provides regionally. Both paratransit and demand-response are scheduled, door-to-door services.

Because both the City of Minot and SBT have received federal funds as rural transportation systems, SBT has been able to provide demand-response in the city seamlessly with the paratransit service, precluding the need for individuals to certify under the ADA.

Now, the city is being reclassified as an urban system, which l means after July 1, the city’s paratransit system will fall under different federal funding and cannot operate in conjunction with a rural demand-response system. That prompts the need to activate rider certification. The application process seeks to establish which riders would be unable to use the city fixed route buses due to the degree of their disabilities or difficulty getting to a bus.

The city has been talking with SBT to provide that paratransit service for certified riders after July 1, said Brian Horinka, city transit director. The city also is soliciting proposals from any vendors interested in contracting to offer paratransit.

Darrell Francis, executive director for SBT, said he has been distributing certification applications upon request. However, he said he would like to also work with the City of Minot to maintain the existing demand-response service for elderly and disabled individuals.

“My bottom line is the people. I want to make sure that those who need a ride, get a ride,” Francis said.

Kyle Erickson with the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Minot State University, uses paratransit and has students who use paratransit to get back and forth from their jobs. Personally, he isn’t concerned about obtaining certification, he said, but his concern is for individuals whose disabilities aren’t as apparent and about the inequities that could be created if some qualify and others do not.

“Obviously, it’s a pretty big change for people that have traditionally relied on the door-to-door service of Souris Basin here in town, and I think there’s a lot of anxiety around that in the folks that we’ve talked to,” said Scott Burlingame, executive director at Independence, Inc., Minot. “We are preparing for this kind of onslaught of folks that need help with that.”

He notes the need to educate people that paratransit is meant for people who cannot use the disability-accessible, fixed route bus system.

Independence, Inc. staff recently trained on the use of the fixed route buses to be able to train clients who aren’t eligible for or choose not to seek certification under ADA. Burlingame said staff also can assist people with the certification paperwork.

He said the fixed route system has advantages in that it is fairly consistently timed, with no need for scheduling in advance or risking not getting a ride if the paratransit bus is full.

“I’ve known far too many people who stay home because they just can’t get Souris Basin, when maybe a fixed route system might be an alternative,” he said.

Horinka also said the city may decide to hold public meetings to help explain the changes once the city itself learns more about what the new service will look like. The city invites residents who want to learn more about how to use the fixed route system to contact the transit office for assistance, he said.

The city paratransit service is meant to serve ADA certified residents who live within three-quarters of a mile of the fixed route. Horinka said the city reasonably expects it to cover the entire city. He said a system such as the existing demand-response service is outside the scope of the city’s federal funding as an urban categorized service, and the city isn’t considering offering it at this time.

Other major cities in North Dakota have differing models for bus service, from Grand Forks with its fixed route, paratransit and senior ride service to Bismarck-Mandan, where transit and paratransit service are provided by a nonprofit. Local property or sales taxes supplement fares to help support those operations.

SBT, a regional transportation service focusing on elderly and disabled individuals, has been providing paratransit within Minot under a contract with the city since January 2009. Its demand-response service has grown to about 65,000 rides a year within Minot, Francis said.

Francis said he encourages people to apply for ADA certification because it provides ridership priority, but he stressed the city also can choose to operate a demand-response system that would work much like the current system if it wishes to fund it with non-federal money. The amount of federal money available to the City of Minot as an urban system is limited and comes with restrictions..

The North Dakota Legislature is considering bills that could help fund transit across the state. One bill, Senate Bill 2254, would provide $2 million for urban fixed route transit systems to use toward paratransit.

House Bill 1106 includes $2 million for non-fixed route transit providers, such as SBT, and Senate Bill 2012 appropriates an additional $2 million to an existing state aid fund for transit that is available to all transit providers.

Francis said residents should talk to their city council members and legislators about the kinds of transit services they would like to see. Burlingame agreed transit users need to let elected officials know how important the services are to them because that advocacy does make a difference.