There they were last week, in wheel chairs blocking traffic on Beacon Hill. A group of four seniors and the disabled planted themselves in front of the State House; they hoped to get the attention of lawmakers debating a funding bill for overhauling and updating the state’s aging transportation system.
The demonstrators shouted “Ride denied!” referring to last year’s fare hike for The Ride, a special shuttle service run by the MBTA. It ferries seniors and the disabled to doctor’s appointments, part time jobs, the grocery store and visits with friends.
Riders used to pay $2 a trip, now it’s 4 dollars and by year’s end, it could go up to 5. Ride usage has dropped by nearly 20 percent. The cost is simply out of reach for most who survive on a fixed income.
On the same day the Boston police arrested the State House wheelchair activists, two men one in a wheelchair were being honored. In Hopkinton, the official starting point of the Boston Marathon, father and son Dick and Rick Hoyt were immortalized in bronze. Team Hoyt has competed in the Boston Marathon since 1977, with the now 72-year-old Dick Hoyt pushing his 50-year-old son Rick in his wheelchair.
Rick has cerebral palsy. He told his father after his first 26-mile marathon “Dad”, he said, “When I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”
I was struck by the coincidence of the two events on the same day, and by the realization that the State House demonstrators rely on The Ride to help them stay connected to the outside world. For them it’s more than transportation, the same way that the Boston Marathon is more than a race for Rick Hoyt.
Oh – and one demonstrator said the turnout at the State House would have been even more impressive if the others who wanted to protest could have afforded the trip.
I don’t expect the unconditional support a father gives his son, but can’t some of the most vulnerable among us at least get a ride?
