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Mass Transit Memorandum <br /> No. 021012-1 <br /> February 10,2012 <br /> TO: Honorable Mayor McElroy and City Council Members <br /> FROM: Ryan McCrady, City Manager <br /> Paul McChancy, Mass Transit Administrator <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution Approving Extension of Circuit Breaker Free Bus Rides <br /> SUMMARY Staff recommends that Council adopt a Resolution extending the <br /> RECOMMENDATION: period of time that senior citizens and people with disabilities, who <br /> are certified under the State's Circuit Breaker program, may ride <br /> buses for free. <br /> BACKGROUND: The State requires that all transit systems permit senior citizens and <br /> people with disabilities, who are certified by the Illinois Depart- <br /> ment On Aging under the Circuit Breaker program,to ride buses <br /> for free. Applicants for the Circuit Breaker program must submit <br /> income information annually to the Department in order to be <br /> certified. Due to the usual, long delay in processing all of those <br /> applications,the State had recommended that the period of time <br /> allowed for free bus rides should extend beyond the end of the year <br /> in which the Department issues its certification. Consequently, the <br /> Decatur City Council has passed resolutions permitting free bus <br /> rides through June 30th of the year following the year that the <br /> Department on Aging issues its Circuit Breaker certifications. <br /> Recentlythe Illinois Department of Transportation issued a <br /> � p <br /> directive that all transit systems must permit senior citizens and <br /> people with disabilities, who are certified by the Illinois Depart- <br /> ment On Aging under the Circuit Breaker program, to ride buses <br /> for free through December 31"of the year following the year that <br /> the Department on Aging issues its Circuit Breaker certifications. <br /> For example, a senior citizen who becomes certified for the Circuit <br /> Breaker program anytime in 2012 must be eligible for free bus <br /> rides through December 31, 2013. The attached Resolution would <br /> amend Decatur's bus fares to coincide with the recent Illinois <br /> Department of Transportation directive. <br /> POTENTIAL No objections are expected. <br /> OBJECTION: <br />