Fullerton council approves interim limits and a July redesign to senior mobility program after public pleas

The Fullerton City Council on Feb. 17 approved two actions to stabilize its Senior Mobility Program after staff reported rising usage and costs.

Parks and Recreation Manager Christian Hernandez told the council the program provided 14,647 one-way trips in calendar 2025 (3,265 medical trips and 8,425 nutrition trips). The city receives approximately $1,176,900 from OCTA for the current fiscal year, Hernandez said, but rising utilization has produced a projected shortfall of about $125,000 through the end of the fiscal year. To prevent service disruption, staff proposed temporarily absorbing roughly $83,000 within the department's budget and implementing a two-phase approach.

Phase 1 (interim): starting March 1 through June 30, 2026, staff proposed limiting participants to 30 round trips per month to the Fullerton Community Center while keeping other guidelines unchanged. Phase 1 is intended to stabilize immediate short-term costs while staff monitors usage.

Phase 2 (proposed July 1, 2026): staff proposed a longer-term redesign that would limit 20 round trips per month to the community center, charge a modest $2 per one-way nonemergency medical trip within Fullerton or 10 miles outside the city, and charge $2 per one-way grocery trip within Fullerton. Staff estimated those changes could generate annual savings between $145,000 and $165,000 and allow the program to operate within available OCTA funding; staff also proposed authorizing the city manager's designee to update the program service plan to OCTA consistent with the approved changes.

Council debate and public comment

Residents and frequent users urged council members not to cut service, saying the transportation program is a lifeline that prevents isolation and supports medical access. Multiple speakers requested that the council consider alternative funding sources (including CalOptima reimbursement for certain nonmedical transports, seeking new vendors via RFPs, investigating shuttle models, or using CDBG funds) and asked staff for data on voucher counts and service reliability (several commenters said taxis sometimes fail to appear).

Council members expressed concern about rapid cuts and the need to balance fiscal prudence with seniors' medical and social needs. Several members asked staff to monitor the March interim limit closely and return with updated cost projections and potential CDBG funding recommendations; staff said the CDBG review committee will finalize recommendations in March or April and that the council could reallocate funds via the summer budget cycle.

Votes and procedural detail

Councilmember Dunlap moved the first action (interim modifications and CDBG direction). That motion passed unanimously (5-0). The council then voted separately on the July 1 program design; the second motion passed 3-2. Council directed staff to monitor impacts, report back during the summer budget work, and continue community outreach so participants understand changes.

Ending: Staff will begin outreach and communications to seniors at the Fullerton Community Center, with printed flyers, in-person briefings, outreach by California Yellow Cab partner staff and social media; the council directed that the program be monitored and revisited if additional funding (for example from CDBG) becomes available.