A person's degree of independence is often measured by one's ability to complete simple tasks and take care of oneself without outside assistance. However, many people with disabilities never experience autonomy because their physical or mental limitations inhibit them from moving around freely. This is especially true when "moving around" refers to the lack of accessible transportation.

Easy Lift paratransit established in 1979           
Luckily, people with disabilities in the California Central Coast region can count on a specialized paratransit service to get them to their destinations.
           
Easy Lift Transportation is a non-profit organization created to provide curbside-to-curbside transportation to people with disabilities and senior citizens in south Santa Barbara County since 1979. With their highly-trained drivers and extensive dispatch system, Easy Lift enables disabled individuals to become independent and self-confident by allowing them to go to work or school, run errands and visit friends and family. Most vans are equipped with wheelchair lifts for passengers who are unable to use the steps to board the van.

"Mobility is of monumental importance to our passengers," said Ernesto Paredes, executive director of Easy Lift. "We are fortunate in Santa Barbara County to have some of the best services and programs available. We are the link that brings people who are in their home out into the community and make these great programs accessible to them."

Easy Lift transports about 150 passengers every day.

How it Works
By calling the Easy Lift reservation phone line, riders can make an appointment for their desired pick-up time, informing the operator of the date of the rider's appointment, the name and address of the destination and the desired time of arrival at that location. A ride may be booked for the same day or up to two weeks in advance.

However, because Easy Lift receives several hundred phone calls a day, it is necessary for passengers to be flexible when requesting specific pick-up times. Easy Lift operates seven days a week in south Santa Barbara County.

Any individual who cannot ride the regular fixed route service is eligible to receive services from Easy Lift. An initial phone interview with a staff member often qualifies an individual for services. However, sometimes a home visit is necessary to determine eligibility.

"For us, it's not trying to be exclusive. It's just that because the demand for our service is so high, we want to make sure the people who are accessing Easy Lift are truly the ones who have no other options," said Paredes.

Training program on using public transportation
Those who do not qualify can participate in the Easy Lift Mobility Training Program where participants are taught how to read and use the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) public transportation bus schedule, where to catch the MTD bus, etc. Trainers work one-on-one with participants and even ride with them on the bus until they feel confident enough to ride on their own.

"Sometimes those bus guides can be kind of confusing; they don't make sense, so we'll sit down with the person and chart where they want to go and actually go on those rides with them," explained Paredes.

How Much Does it Cost?
While the actual cost of transporting someone averages about $15 per trip (including the cost of staffing, driver's pay, fuel and vehicle maintenance), community support and donations have enabled Easy Lift to provide its services for $2.00 a ride.

Services in Spanish
Even though Easy Lift's bilingual phone operators are able to assist Spanish-speaking callers with making their ride appointments, no other services are available in Spanish…yet. Easy Lift is currently working on a Spanish-language website, offering printed materials in Spanish and providing the training services in Spanish as well.

"It's not a choice anymore, it's something we have to do," Paredes explained. "[The Spanish-speaking] community continues to grow and their transit needs are as high as anyone else's, so that's on the burner right now. We're fortunate to have a lot of staff here who are not only bilingual, but bicultural and are able to understand the needs of many people in our community who have equal access issues as anybody else."

Other Services Available
Not only does Easy Lift provide physically disabled people with accessible transportation, it also goes that extra mile to address the transit needs of the community.

Easy Lift has created a contract and charter service for organizations needing group transportation. Other services include the Project Safe Streets which provides driver training to organizations who own their own vans, and the Human Service Radio Network, a radio dispatch service for local non-profit agencies.

Seeking out and addressing the needs of the community through transportation options is what makes this organization so successful, said Paredes. "It's not an ego thing of trying to build up this organization. It's about fulfilling transit needs, checking egos at the door and not having this idea of 'These are my vans.' They're community vehicles and that's how we use them."

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