Excerpt from: CBC (click for full article)
It's possible for the city of Hamilton to have a means test for transit riders with disabilities, but it will have to be willing to pay for it.
That was the message from Don Hull, director of transit, in a presentation to the general issues committee Wednesday. The city can establish a method of assessment to determine which riders with disabilities need free transit, as favoured by Coun. Sam Merulla.
Offering free transit for all residents with disabilities who live on low incomes could cost the city about $2.2 million per year, Hull said. That's not including the staff necessary to carry out the means testing, he said. His best guess is it could take three to five more staff depending on how the city defines what a disability is.
“We'd really have to define the criteria for the assessment before we could determine the complexity of the assessment,” Hull said.
But “everything is possible with time and money.”
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