Metro News Release
For immediate release: June 15, 2006
Metro to make changes to MetroAccess
Metro’s Board today approved making sweeping changes to the Transit Authority’s transportation service for people with disabilities.
The Board received recommendations from its ad hoc committee which was created in January, in light of programmatic challenges facing the service. The Ad Hoc MetroAccess Advisory Committee, comprised of riders, advocates for the disabled, Board members and transit and human services experts came up with 11 recommendations to improve the service.
"The recommendations will allow for more open communication and involvement with customers and ensure quality and more reliable scheduling for customers," said Metro Board member Dana Kauffman, who also chaired the committee.
The Board approved implementing six recommendations and hiring an outside expert to research the cost of five other recommendations. Within the next several months, Metro managers will take steps to improve customer service, communication and scheduling of rides. The agency also will change its late cancellation and no show policy, work to coordinate transportation with human service agencies, clarify its passenger assistance policy and host a disability awareness event. In an effort to reduce the number of cancellations and users not showing up for scheduled rides, MetroAccess customers will be able to cancel a trip up to two hours before the scheduled ride and reserve a ride seven days instead of 14 days in advance. Users who don’t show up for a trip would be given a courtesy notice for the first offense.
Other new improvements include expanded use of the customer call recording system and exploring ride scheduling by geographic areas to cut down the length of some trips. The MetroAccess contractor, MV Transportation, also will provide sensitivity training for drivers and dispatchers.
Metro managers say those changes won’t cost the Authority, but there is a price tag for five other recommendations. The Board agreed to spend $50,000 to hire a paratranist expert to study the cost of implementing them. The expert will examine the cost of providing door-to-door service. MetroAccess users currently are required to meet a vehicle at the curb of the scheduled pick up location – not at their door. There also will be a study of the cost to increase MV Transportation and Metro staffing, add more vehicles to the fleet and provide a premium same-day cab service for users at a higher fare.
"While we have made significant progress in improving MetroAccess since January, we still have more work to do," said Dan Tangherlini, Metro’s interim general manager. "I believe the committee’s report and recommendations will enable us to make our service even better and provide a better product. I also want to personally thank the committee members for their efforts."
About 16,000 elderly and disabled people are signed up for the curb-to-curb passenger vehicle and cab service, which delivers about 4,500 rides during an average weekday and 1.45 million trips a year.
News release issued on June 15, 2006.