promise of affordable and available travel. Today's bus operator lives on a very narrow ledge, whittled back even farther by the grossly unbalanced federal transportation subsidy policies of the last generation. Since 1965, the pre-tax net income of the intercity bus industry has fallen to one-eighth of its level at that time.' That drop seems to correspond near identically with the spending of some $90.5 billion in federal assistance since 1960. During that time, while Congress subsidized each AMTRAK passenger with $33.45 per ticket, intercity bus passengers received eight-cents each.' The intercity bus is a low-margin, peak-period business. The charter bus business is little different. Customers turn to the bus to save money, it's a fact of life. When that single and slim marketing edge is lost, so too is any reason to stay in that business. Leaving us at the bottom line: most of our members will be forced out of this business. The added cost of vehicles will force many out right away. The added cost of operating will force out many more. Those who are left, if any, will be left to charge airline prices for intercity travel -- prices which thousands of Americans already find intolerable. The decreasing passenger levels will, of course, contribute to a downward spiral of service and an upward and corresponding spiral in prices. Should this legislation pass as it is now written, UBOA predicts that a decade from today the private bus operator will be as scarce as the private rail passenger line in this Nation. Congress will, indeed, have torn down the discriminatory barriers between the handicapped and able-bodied traveler in America: neither will be able to afford or to find intercity bus service. Able-bodied and handicapped will, together with elderly, low-income and every rural resident without private transportation, become a Nation of shut-ins. To the age-old question, "How ya' gonna' keep 'em down on the farm?" this bill seems to have found the answer. 3 "Federal Subsidies for Passenger Transportation, 1960-1988: Winners, Losers, and Implications for the Future," Robert R. Nathan Associates, Inc., May 1989. 4 ibid. 5 ibid A decade from today or before, Congress will be faced with a single alternative: the creation of "AMBUS," a nationalized, fully-subsidized intercity bus line operating with all of the efficiencies and innovation of the Nation's existing transit systems. The same basic subsidies will be applied to create an intercity clone to the transit system which, in his final budget to this Congress, President Reagan said, "finance high wages and low labor productivity. The subsidies encourage waste, distort local decision making and perpetuate public monopolies that discourage competition. Very little of the subsidy benefits the transit rider." What are the alternatives? UBOA agrees that more can be done in our industry to accommodate the handicapped passenger. Uniform standards and policies toward the handicapped rider might become voluntary criteria so that the handicapped know what to expect when they are in need of intercity transportation. More systems might be encouraged to invest -- with public assistance -- in lift-equipped vehicles. More cooperative efforts can be encouraged between public and private operators; after all, virtually all lift-devices today are publicly-underwritten or -owned. Direct federal assistance both capital and operating assistance -- can be offered to private operators to encourage lift installations. Even requirements for proportional fleet purchases would make more sense than this shotgun approach. In the long run, however, UBOA believes that the ADA demands far, far too much from bus owners and operators in response to the statistical and demonstrated need for handicapped intercity transportation. Equipping every vehicle to prepare for the call which may never come is squandering precious resources which could certainly be better spent. And it doesn't matter whether those are private or public resources neither of us can afford it. - UBOA encourages the passage of those sections of the ADA which offer the handicapped a legal recourse to willful, obviously intentional and continuing discriminatory practices by American business, though we believe that far more opportunity for negotiated settlement should be added to this bill. And to the extent that productive changes were made by the United States Senate in • Fiscal Year 1990 Budget of the United States, Major Policy Initiatives, President Ronald W. Reagan, 1989. its deliberation on this bill, UBOA endorses the three-year study into needs and means of achieving full accessibility which are contained in the Senate bill, S. 933. But the mandate that every bus be fully accessible remains even in the Senate's bill. It must be removed. Our operators are full prepared to live with the results of the mandated study. We're certain, however, that there are far more efficient, more affordable, more satisfactory ways to achieve full accessibility than the single approach offered by this bill. To summarize, Mr. Chairman, this bill's sections calling for modifications in all new buses sold in America will, at best, blanket this Nation with equipment which will never be used, for which too many people will pay too much. At worst, the private intercity and charter bus operator will disappear entirely, leaving the American traveler entirely in the hands of air and rail carriers which are too costly and reach too few communities. Or, it will force the nationalization of an entire industry or the abandonment of the American principle of a fully mobile population. UBOA urges a more realistic and practical assessment of the problem be made, and a more solution be sought reasonable and pragmatic solution sought. If significant changes are not made, UBOA urges that this bill be defeated. Thank you for this opportunity to address our concerns. MR. CHAIRMAN, AND DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, I AM PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF DAN DIPERT TOURS, THE LARGEST EQUAL ACCESS FOR ALL DISABLED AMERICANS IS A GOAL THAT HAS BEEN BEFORE I DO, HOWEVER, LET ME PROVIDE YOU WITH AN OUTLINE INSIGHT THIS SUMMER THE NTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS REAFFIRMED OUR TRADITIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE RIGHT OF EVERY AMERICAN TO EQUAL ACCESS TO ALL FORMS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. H.R. 2273 IMPLEMENTS THE LAUDABLE ASPIRA TIONS OF INTEGRATING AMERICA'S DISABLED INTO THE MAINSTREAM OF AERICA TOUR OPERATORS AD COACH OPERATORS HAVE MADE SUBSTANTIAL EFFORTS TO - WE MUST BE VERY EFFICIENT MANAGERS OF THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES. THIS LEGISLATION, YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT "THERE SHOULD NOT BE A PRICE-TAG CONSIDERATION |