Disabled Chicago commuters unhappy with the city's paratransit service say a "blue ribbon" committee being organized to address their complaints is not the answer.

"This is not going to work," said Alva Rodriguez at a Thursday meeting of the Chicago Subcommittee for Pace's Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee.

"This is still going to be the same - sorry to say this - bull crap that is going on now," Rodriguez said. "I don't think anybody is taking us seriously."

The conflict centers around Pace's paratransit services, which provide curb-to-curb transportation for people unable to use fixed-route bus and rail systems.

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act requires any public transit system receiving federal dollars to provide paratransit to customers who need it. In 2006, the Regional Transportation Authority made Pace responsible for all paratransit services in the Chicagoland area.

But customer complaints have been mounting since March when Pace restructured its paratransit services within the city of Chicago.

Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot says many of the complaints are the result of longer ride times, a by-product of Pace's efforts to increase efficiency and reduce overall costs through switching from an individual to a shared-ride system.

Riders, however, say service under the new structure is intolerable and in violation of ADA standards.

Earlier this month, Pace Board Chairman Richard Kwasneski announced the creation of a "Blue Ribbon Committee," to try to resolve the issues.

According to a press release, the committee will "seek independent recommendations regarding service issues, governance of Pace's ADA committee, and new methods to improve communication with disabled riders."

The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting June 27 and make recommendations to the board in December.

But Cecelia Jackson, of Independent Movement of Paratransit Riders for Unity Vehicles, & Equality (IMPRUVE),  says disabled commuters can't wait that long.

"Paratransit riders need relief now," she says.

Jackson is also unhappy with the composition of the committee, which she says is overwhelmingly white and middle- to high-income.

Wilmot says committee members were chosen by Kwasneski to "ensure geographic and other balances plus a variety of perspectives in representing the disabled community."

The 32-member committee includes 20 representatives of non-profit organizations or government agencies.

"The representatives of organizations and agencies on the committee have hundreds of years of combined experience serving the needs of countless individuals with disabilities," says Wilmot.

Rodriguez believes the committee should be comprised  of "mostly riders, because we are having the problem. We don't need agencies to tell us what should be done," she says.

Rodriguez also complains that minorities are underrepresented on the committee.

According to a 2004 CTA paratransit survey, 71 percent of Chicago paratransit riders are African-American. Neither the RTA nor Pace was able to provide demographic information on Pace's suburban paratransit ridership.

Wilmot says the complaints are premature.

"Frankly, it is disappointing that there are challenges, particularly along racial lines, to the Committee's membership before it has even begun its work," he said.

But Dr. Ayo Maat, of IMPRUVE, says race has long been at the forefront of the conversation surrounding Pace paratransit service, and ought to be taken into closer consideration when addressing service issues.

Tom Groeninger, the Pace representative at Thursday's subcommittee meeting, said he couldn't answer the majority of questions regarding efforts to improve service because of pending lawsuits.

Maat says such unwillingness to provide answers lies at the heart of the problem, and has caused widespread distrust of Pace among the disabled community.

For now, however, the Chicago ADA subcommittee is pushing for Pace to include a more diverse, and larger, percentage of riders on the committee. The group passed a resolution at Thursday's meeting recommending Pace heed their concerns.

"We continue to remain eager and willing to provide guidance and constructive input to Pace with the hope of combining resources and ideas," Sharon Lamp, a member of the Chicago ADA Steering Committee who was asked to serve on the Blue Ribbon Committee, said in an interview.

Lamp said the group is putting together a list of people and grassroots organizations they want to see included.

Wilmot says however, that the committee's membership is already set.