FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Jerry Kane
Madison County Transit
(618) 797-4600
MCT CONFORMS TO STATE LAW, LIMITING FREE RIDES FOR SENIORS
Changes will take Effect August 14, 2011
GRANITE CITY, ILL., JUNE 22, 2011 . . . The Madison County Transit (MCT) Board of Trustees approved a proposal yesterday which limits free rides for seniors on MCT fixed-route
buses to seniors who qualify based on age and income. The change, which conforms to Illinois Public Act 96-1527, will take effect on Sun., August 14, 2011. Under the
new guidelines, seniors who reside in the MCT District can register to receive a Senior Free Ride ID if they earn less than $27,610 a year for a one-person household,
$36,635 for a two-person household and $45,657 for a three-person household. Seniors who reside in the MCT District and earn more than the above income levels can
receive a MCT Half Fare ID and ride MCT fixed-routes for half fare. Effective August 14, the MCT Board of Trustees also voted to eliminate free rides for Madison
County seniors and ADA-eligible individuals on MetroLink and MetroBuses in Missouri.
“Based on feedback from the public meetings, a vast majority of the seniors who ride MCT today will still qualify for free rides,” said MCT Managing Director Jerry
Kane. “The people with the greatest need will still benefit, and those who exceed the income level will have the ability to pay half fare.”
Seniors who qualify based on income level, can register online at: www.cbrx.il.gov or call 1-800-624-2459 for details. In addition to free rides, registered seniors
could also receive through the State of Illinois: property tax relief grants, license plate discounts and the benefits of the Illinois Cares Rx program. Once registered,
seniors will be entered into a statewide database and must attend an ID distribution session to receive a new Senior Free Ride ID. Seniors who do not qualify can attend
the ID distribution session and receive a Half Fare ID.
Since the inception of the Free Rides program in 2008, MCT has distributed 2,231 Senior Free Ride IDs. Annually, senior free rides account for more than 103,000
boardings– approximately 5% of MCT’s overall ridership. For details about MCT services, please call 618-931-7433, #3 or e-mail info@mct.org.
Madison County Transit (MCT) provides multi-modal transportation services for Madison County, Illinois. MCT operates a fixed-route bus service, connecting to MetroLink;
express weekday commuter service directly to and from downtown St. Louis; and seasonal express service to the Rams games and the Muny. For elderly and disabled residents
who are unable to use the fixed-route buses, MCT provides complementary door to door service. MCT is also responsible for the construction and maintenance of more than
100 miles of bikeways that comprise the MCT Trails system, as well as overseeing RideFinders, the St. Louis region’s FREE carpooling and vanpooling program.
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