RTD has seen large increases in each of the past three years in riders applying for half-price transit passes due to medical disabilities. The total number of discount cards is up, in part, because social-service agencies in the area "have become more aggressive at getting their clients in our program," said Joe Berdaus, RTD's senior manager of customer information.
The Regional Transportation District offers Special Discount Cards to people with disabilities if they show proof of eligibility, including a Medicare card, Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income documentation, or a Veterans Administration letter certifying the applicant has at least a 50 percent disability.
Applicants also can submit a form signed by a health-care provider verifying a disability, which can include blindness, hearing impairment, ambulatory problems, epilepsy, mental retardation or mental illness.
"We have a strict documentation requirement to be sure you qualify for the program," Berdaus said, adding that the increase in the issuance of cards also has tied in with the decline in the economy.
In 2004, RTD issued 1,393 new Special Discount Cards and roughly the same number in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, new issues declined to 1,269 and 1,217, respectively. Then, in 2008, the number of new cards issued jumped 28 percent from the previous year, followed by an increase in 2009 of about 22 percent and another jump of 35 percent, to 2,569 new cards issued, in 2010. In January of this year, RTD issued 49.7 percent more discount disability cards than in the same month of 2010.
While the number of people in Colorado's medical-marijuana registry has boomed in recent years — from 4,720 in 2008 to 88,920 last year — RTD officials said registry cards do not satisfy eligibility requirements for the transit discount program.
>>Read more: Denver transit agency sees strong demand for disability passes - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18168480#ixzz1UZ8hJfcL
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Posted: 05/30/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT
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