Metro News Release
For immediate release: January 20, 2006
Transition to new MetroAccess provider slowly improving
Due to the transition for paratransit services to the new provider, customers have been experiencing delays in reaching agents in the MetroAccess call center and travel delays due to the introduction of new equipment and drivers to the program. The goal is to see at least 93 percent of the trips on schedule.
"We are well aware of the problems and apologize for the inconveniences our customers have experienced," said Pamela Wilkins, Acting Assistant General Manager for Customer Contract Services, who oversees the MetroAccess contract. "We have already taken several steps to improve the service that our riders deserve and expect. As a result, many of our customers have already seen some improvement, and we expect service to continue to improve day-by-day."
MetroAccess riders who have not already had a customer service agent verify the rider’s travel data (address, phone number, trip subscription data) should call between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to verify their personal data at 301-562-5360. "The sooner riders call to confirm that we have the correct information in our computer system, the more likely it is that their trip will run smoothly," Ms. Wilkins explained.
In addition, Metro officials want to remind MetroAccess riders that the paratransit service is "curb-to-curb" service and the riders must be outside in front of their building for the MetroAccess vehicle to pick them up. Drivers will not go inside buildings or call indoors looking for the riders.
MV Transportation began its four-year contract to operate the MetroAccess service on Monday and immediately discovered that it had inherited outdated customer and subscription trip data, which resulted in heavy call volume. Calls which typically took two to three minutes were turned into calls of 10 minutes to allow for the call center to correct outdated customer information such as their addresses, the addresses of their subscription trips and their phone numbers.
Other steps that have been taken to improve service include the following.
- In the first few days of service, MV Transportation hired 10 additional temporary employees and brought over another 10 dispatchers to address the high call volumes.
- MV Transportation has hired more than 200 new drivers with 50 more in this week’s training class.
- Additional telephone "trunk lines" have been installed and are working to handle extra call volume.
- Riders now can now confirm or cancel their MetroAccess trips using the keypad on any touch-tone telephone using the InstantAccess service. The information is available 24-hours a day at 301-562-5360.
- A dialysis center coordinator came on board Tuesday and already is working to establish a hot line for dialysis patients to get immediate attention, and he is contacting all regional dialysis centers to ensure that MV is aware of all subscription trips which they know about.
Metro officials have made several service improvements to its paratransit contract, including a new reservation and schedule software that should minimize missed and excessively late trips and maximize on time performance; cameras on board MetroAcess vehicles to improve driver training and to monitor operations; and using new vehicle performance and maintenance tracking software.
About 15,000 people are registered for MetroAccess service, of which approximately 6,000 are regular users of the service.
The transition from an old MetroAccess provider to a new one this week has been slower than anticipated as Metro officials and the new provider, MV Transportation, have run into some unexpected challenges since the paratransit service turned over earlier this week. However, service has improved daily and is expected to continue to improve until the service meets Metro’s goal for high performance for its riders.
News release issued on January 20, 2006.