TriMet will cut nearly half of its current riders from its “Hand-to-Hand” paratransit service for disabled residents, beginning Wednesday, the public transit agency said. The cuts come amid a budget deficit for the agency.

Hand-to-Hand is part of LIFT, a federally mandated service under the Americans with Disabilities Act. LIFT provides disabled Portland residents with transportation for everyday activities, medical appointments and trips to the grocery store.

There are 12,000 registered passengers for the LIFT program, TriMet spokesperson Roberta Altstadt said. 650 of those passengers with severe cognitive disabilities receive the Hand-to-Hand service, where the driver escorts the passenger inside their location and connects them with another adult.

About 350 Hand-to-Hand LIFT riders have their trips covered through Medicaid-funded disability programs in Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties. Those trips cost TriMet roughly $75 per ride, according to Altstadt.

The remaining roughly 300 riders not covered by Medicaid pay $2.80 per trip, leaving TriMet to subsidize most of the cost – about $73 per ride, Altstadt said.

With TriMet’s budget getting squeezed, those 300 or so riders, who do not qualify for Medicaid, are set to lose access to the Hand-to-Hand service and will instead be transitioned to TriMet’s Door-to-Door service, which provides assistance only to a building’s entrance.

“While Door-to-Door service is not as comprehensive as Hand-to-Hand, it offers a level of support higher than our standard Curb-to-Curb service, utilized by the majority of our paratransit riders,” Altstadt wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Altstadt said that Hand-to-Hand service goes “above and beyond” what is mandated under the ADA and therefore is considered a “premium service” that can be reduced while still complying with federal law.

The roughly 300 riders who will lose the service will remain eligible for LIFT but will no longer have access to Hand-to-Hand assistance, the agency said. To receive that higher level of service, they will need to coordinate through their counties’ disability programs.

“TriMet’s adjustments to LIFT service will help us manage costs and increase efficiency in our paratransit service, while we continue meeting federal requirements providing safe and dependable public transportation to those most reliant on it,” wrote Altstadt.

History of Hand-to-Hand service

Although she could not provide a specific date, Altstadt said that decades ago TriMet partnered with the Oregon Department of Human Services to develop a Medicaid-funded “premium transportation service” for people with disabilities. Hand-to-Hand assistance was one of those services.

Over the years, Altstadt said, the scope of the service had grown from the originally Medicaid-funded service, making only about 50% of the current Hand-to-Hand services covered by Medicaid. Amid cost-cutting agency-wide, TriMet is looking to scale back on non-Medicaid-covered riders.

TriMet estimates the “premium” Hand-to-Hand service costs about $2.5 million annually in service hours. Altstadt said many riders receiving the extra service do not require it for their disabilities and that scaling it back where it’s unnecessary could save the agency $1 million to $1.25 million each year.

According to Altstadt, the savings will still be used for LIFT services and not be directed toward other TriMet services.

Additional LIFT savings

TriMet said outreach efforts have helped transition an additional 300 LIFT riders onto Medicaid-funded transportation plans. By no longer subsidizing about $72 per ride for those passengers, the agency expects to save around $5 million a year.

The cuts to the LIFT program come amid historic funding woes for TriMet, which is set to cut $53 million in administrative and an additional $11 million in service costs Wednesday. The agency is further set to alter or eliminate 33 lines starting on Aug. 23.

“Cutting service is not something we want to do — it is something we have to do. But, due to declining revenue and increasing costs of about 56% between 2019 and 2025, we must take action now to balance our budget and avoid running out of money altogether,” a statement on the agency’s website reads in part.

In total, the agency is looking to reduce service by a minimum of 10% by July of 2028.

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