Bill Text: NY S00486 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Extends and expands the scope of the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot to include an additional 1,200 users.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S00486 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00486-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           486

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, BAILEY, CLEARE, GOUNARDES, HOYLMAN, KRUEGER,
          MYRIE, PARKER, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered print-
          ed,  and  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transporta-
          tion

        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law and the  transportation  law,
          in  relation  to  extending  and  expanding the scope of the on-demand
          E-hail paratransit pilot

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  3  of section 1205 of the public authorities
     2  law, as added by chapter 717 of the laws of 1967, is amended and  a  new
     3  subdivision 9 is added to read as follows:
     4    3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,
     5  no zonal system of fares proposed to be instituted  on  or  after  March
     6  first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight for the use of the whole or any part
     7  of  a  rapid  transit facility or of an omnibus line facility or a para-
     8  transit service operated by the authority and no general revision of the
     9  system of transfers applicable to the use  of  all  such  facilities  in
    10  effect as of that date shall be established without the written approval
    11  of  the  mayor.  For  the  purposes  of this subdivision the term "zonal
    12  system of fares" shall mean any system whereby the fare payable for  the
    13  use of a rapid transit facility or an omnibus line facility or any para-
    14  transit  service operated by the authority or of any part thereof varies
    15  according to distance traveled or to the location of the point of  entry
    16  or departure by the user, but the creation or elimination of free trans-
    17  fer points shall not be regarded as the institution of such a system.
    18    9.  a.  For  purposes  of this subdivision, the term "on-demand E-hail
    19  paratransit pilot" shall mean the service created  by  the  metropolitan
    20  transportation  authority in two thousand seventeen, through which users
    21  of the authority's Access-A-Ride paratransit program can receive immedi-
    22  ate rides using a smartphone app or phone service.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01177-01-3

        S. 486                              2

     1    b. The authority shall continue to operate the on-demand E-hail  para-
     2  transit  pilot  through March thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five, as
     3  provided by subdivision five-a of section fifteen-b of  the  transporta-
     4  tion law.
     5    c. Fares for rides for the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot shall be
     6  equal to the authority's base fare for bus and subway services. Hours of
     7  service  for  such  pilot  shall be the same as the authority's hours of
     8  service for bus, subway, and other  paratransit  services.  The  length,
     9  duration  and  number of on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot rides avail-
    10  able to each user enrolled in the  on-demand  E-hail  paratransit  pilot
    11  shall not be limited or restricted.
    12    § 2. Section 15-b of the transportation law is amended by adding a new
    13  subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
    14    5-a.  a.  For purposes of this subdivision, the term "on-demand E-hail
    15  paratransit pilot" shall mean the service created  by  the  metropolitan
    16  transportation  authority in two thousand seventeen, through which users
    17  of the authority's Access-A-Ride paratransit program can receive immedi-
    18  ate rides using a smartphone app or phone service.
    19    b. The metropolitan transportation authority shall continue to operate
    20  the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot through March  thirty-first,  two
    21  thousand twenty-five.
    22    c.  On or before March sixteenth, two thousand twenty-four, the metro-
    23  politan transportation authority shall expand the on-demand E-hail para-
    24  transit pilot to include an additional one thousand two hundred  Access-
    25  A-Ride  users;  provided, however, the authority shall not pay any costs
    26  or expenses related to such  expansion  above  funding  levels  for  the
    27  on-demand  E-hail paratransit pilot for the two thousand nineteen calen-
    28  dar year, and may only implement such expansion with funds  appropriated
    29  to  it  by  the  state of New York or other governmental source for such
    30  purpose. In selecting new users for  the  on-demand  E-hail  paratransit
    31  pilot,  the  metropolitan  transportation  authority  shall  endeavor to
    32  select a representative sample of Access-A-Ride  users,  accounting  for
    33  age,  disability,  geographic distribution throughout New York city, and
    34  frequency of ridership of Access-A-Ride's other services.
    35    d. Fares for rides for the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot shall be
    36  equal to the metropolitan transportation authority's base fare  for  bus
    37  and  subway  services. Hours of service for such pilot shall be the same
    38  as the metropolitan transportation authority's hours of service for bus,
    39  subway, and other paratransit services. The length, duration and  number
    40  of  on-demand  E-hail  paratransit  pilot  rides  available to each user
    41  enrolled in the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot shall not be  limited
    42  or restricted.
    43    e.  On  or  before  April  thirteenth,  two  thousand twenty-five, the
    44  authority shall issue a report to the governor, the temporary  president
    45  of  the  senate,  the  minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the
    46  assembly, the minority leader of the assembly, the mayor of the city  of
    47  New  York, the city council of the city of New York and the metropolitan
    48  transportation authority. Such  report  shall  detail  ridership,  usage
    49  patterns, and costs of the on-demand E-hail paratransit pilot.
    50    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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