Metro News Release

For immediate release: August 1, 2006

MetroAccess improves cancellation policy

MetroAccess users now have more flexibility to cancel ride reservations. Starting today, passengers using the curb-to-curb paratransit service can cancel a trip with as little as two hours notice, either by speaking with a customer service representative or by using the telephone automated InstantAccess service. Previously, customers were required to cancel MetroAccess reservations by 4:30 p.m. the day before a ride was scheduled.

Metro hopes that the new policy will make MetroAccess more convenient for customers with unexpected schedule changes and reduce the number of late cancellations and passengers not showing up for scheduled rides.

“We’re trying to encourage more communication from our customers so that we can minimize customer no-shows and turn cancellations into opportunities to serve other customers more efficiently,” said MetroAccess Director Christian Kent.

This improvement is part of a series of changes being made on recommendation of the Metro Board’s Ad Hoc MetroAccess Advisory Committee. The committee’s full list of recommendations, presented in June, can be found on the MetroAccess Web site at http://www.wmata.com/metroaccess.

News release issued on August 1, 2006.