Metro News Release

For immediate release: April 4, 2006

Late and missed MetroAccess trips cut in half

Excessively late and missed MetroAccess rides have been cut in half since February, Metro officials reported Tuesday.

A special critical trip management team was formed February 21 with the goal of cutting the number of missed and excessively late trips in half by the end of March.

"I’m pleased to report excessively late trips were reduced by 50 percent and missed trips were cut by 48 percent between February and March," said Dan Tangherlini, interim general manager. "We’ve made substantial progress to improve service over the last several weeks, but by no means are we finished. We need to sustain these accomplishments and reduce complaints even more."

Of the 89,932 trips MetroAccess users took in February, 2.6 percent or 2,344 were excessively late, rides that were 30 minutes or more behind schedule. In March, the number dropped to 1.3 percent or 1,405 of 109,273 trips – a 50 percent reduction from February. There were 2.7 percent or 2,399 missed trips in February compared to 1.4 percent or 1,552 in March - a 48 percent drop. Missed trips include instances when the MetroAcess vehicle arrived late, but the passenger was not at the scheduled pick up location.

Over the last several weeks, a seven-member team, comprised of former reservationists, dispatchers and a driver, contacted riders who were experiencing excessively late and missed trips to obtain the rider’s perspective, to validate pickup locations and times and to follow up with those riders after corrections were implemented. Street supervisors were also dispatched to ensure vehicles left garages on time. They photographed troublesome locations and established alternate pickup points as needed to improve the drivers’ ability to properly perform trips.

"The team updated riders’ addresses, phone numbers and added tips about where they were being picked up and dropped off," said Christian Kent, MetroAccess director.

Overall, the percentage of complaints compared to ridership dipped slightly. Metro’s paratransit contractor, MV Transportation took over the service in mid January. Between that time and the end of the month, there were 1,578 complaints about MetroAccess or 3 percent of the 50,733 trips provided during the same time period. In February, there 1,345 complaints or 1.5 percent of the 89,932 trips that month. In March, there were 1,436 complaints or 1.3 percent of the 109,273 trips MetroAccess users took.

Preliminary numbers provided by MV Transportation show the service’s on time performance also has improved since January when it was 88.2 percent. In February, it was 91.5 percent and 93.4 percent in March. The goal is 93.5 percent, which is a common industry standard.

"We’ve made progress, and we want to ensure the integrity of the accomplishments," said Mr. Tangherlini. "It’s routine for our own auditors to examine the data, but we’re also bringing in an independent outside auditor to look at it. We also are in the midst of hiring five street supervisors to monitor the service and looking into the establishment of a mystery rider program using riders with disabilities to help us monitor the service."

MV also hired two part-time passenger advocates, to work directly with interest groups and individual customers on service quality, safety and driver sensitivity issues.

News release issued on April 4, 2006.