RENO, NV -- The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County hosted a community open house yesterday to receive input on updating the RTC paratransit plan.  They want to improve services for senior citizens and people with disabilities by updating its five year paratransit service plan.

“With the shrinking economy and limited resources we got to make every dollar count,” senior transit planner Tina Wu said. “So we want to make sure we are serving the public most efficiently and to the best of our ability.”

 Wu says passengers that use RTC ACCESS paratransit services have disabilities, which prevent them from independently riding RTC RIDE or RAPID some or all of the time. She says getting them to their destination can be a real lifesaver.  "It’s a critical mobility for those people to go to dialysis, to go to medical appointments, to senior centers, for socialization and for meals,” Wu said.

Patricia Vaughn says she’s curious to see if the RTC plans to extend the Carson City route to Saturdays, but realizes other changes may be necessary.  “I hope they keep everything the same,” Vaughn said.  “But I understand as time goes go by they have to raise the rates, that’s only natural I guess.”

Still, Wu says they’re looking at all possibilities outside of changing service.  Once the RTC has something more concrete they hope to get the public’s reaction of proposed services.