One of WMATA’s common responses to criticism recently has been to claim that they are providing “shared rides”. DC ParaTransit Info performed a small experiment today to test that concept out.
Pat and Kathi are both MetroAccess users, and both use powered wheelchairs. Two separate trips were booked for today, leaving Pat’s work in Rockville Maryland at the same time, going to the same destination near College Park Maryland (home). A PCA was booked as travelling with Kathi.
Under the concept of “shared rides”, the theory should hold that the computer software assigning rides effectively and most economically, two reasons WMATA has given for the idea, will detect that these two rides are due for pickup at the same location at the same time with the same end destination, and assign both trips to the same manifest (vehicle schedule).
Unfortunately, that seems to only be a theory.
At 2:30, the start of the 30-minute window, a MetroAccess van showed up. The manifest showed he was there to pick up Pat and a PCA. The driver contacted MetroAccess dispatch, who confirmed that Kathi had been assigned a different driver for her trip. The driver pointed out to dispatch that it only made sense if he picked up both Pat and Kathi (and the PCA) at the same time, since they were scheduled for rides from the same location at the same time to the same destination.
To their credit, dispatch agreed, and the trip went off without a hitch, getting Pat, Kathi, and their PCA back home by 3:30pm
To the system’s lack of credit, despite dispatch advising the driver that made pick-up that they would contact the driver scheduled to pick Kathi up and advise that the pick-up had already been made, it was discovered at 3:50pm, a good 15 minutes after the drop-off, that the driver assigned to pick Kathi up was still trying to find her at the original pick-up point.
The system obviously isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if it can’t figure out that two trips leaving the same place at the same time going to the same place might be most effectively transported in the same van.
Likewise, the first driver was able to confirm his arrival with the contact number given for Pat, yet the second driver, scheduled to pick Kathi up, obviously could not (the same contact information was given for the second booked ride).
The end result is that, in this case, the more “efficient” and “economical” “shared ride” did not occur as a result of the computer system and scheduling - but because of the application of common sense by the driver. The question is, how can any faith be put in a system that can’t even determine the solution to such a simple problem when it comes to more complex scheduling matters?
“Shared rides”, as they are currently implemented, have flaws, confirming the claims WMATA has constantly attempted to downplay regarding the complaints of the ridership about trips making no logical sense.
We would hope that WMATA will finally stop trying to brush off the ridership’s concerns about their implementation of this policy, and finally acknowledge that the complaints being levelled on this issue are less to do with any claims of “privilege”, as WMATA would have people believe, but are instead based solidly on the fact the system is not performing as it should.
