by KYW's Mike Dunn
SEPTA's track record on helping disabled riders was under the microscope on Monday at a lengthy City Council committee hearing.
City councilwoman Carol Campbell, who is herself wheelchair-bound, called in SEPTA officials to find out why their assistance to the disabled is, in her view, so limited.
She asked SEPTA assistant general manager Frances Jones whether SEPTA paratransit can handle a last-minute request from a disabled rider:
(Campbell:) "If somebody needs to get to a doctor in an emergency and they're in a wheelchair, there's no help that they can get from SEPTA?"
(Jones:) "That's correct, there's no program. No, there isn't."
Twenty-four hours notice is required for paratransit.
Another SEPTA official said the agency's ability to help the handicapped is kept to the minimum required by federal law -- because they don't have the funding to do more.
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