Metro Elderly & Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee
WMATA Press Release:
Call for applications for the Metro Elderly & Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee
NOTE: Applications are due by 5 p.m. on June 20.
Customers with disabilities and senior citizens have a lot to say about Metro service. More importantly, they have a lot of good ideas to share. The Metro Elderly & Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee advises Metro on ways to improve Metrobus, Metrorail, and MetroAccess services. Senior citizens and customers with disabilities have a chance to participate in making Metro better.
Metro is currently seeking applications from customers interested in filling vacancies on the Metro Elderly & Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee.
MetroAccess Door-To-Door Public Information Sessions
WMATA Office of ADA Programs Press Release:
MetroAccess Set to Begin Door-to-Door Service on June 30, 2008
Starting on Monday, June 30, MetroAccess will begin providing door-to-door service. Under the new initiative, drivers will meet customers at the first exterior door of a building and escort them to the vehicle.
Metro's Department of Access Services wants to make it easy for MetroAccess customers to learn more about door-to-door service. MetroAccess will host three Public Information Sessions to discuss the implementation of door-to-door service. Customers who attend will hear complete details about the new service and have a chance to ask questions. Please plan to attend one of the following sessions:
Post: Disabled Riders Question Need For MetroAccess Recertification
The Washington Post's Lena Sun has an article in today's issue regarding the mess that is MetroAccess' certification process:
Nadia Ibrahim, a policy adviser for the Labor Department, gets to work from her Rockville home by taking MetroAccess, a paratransit service operated by Metro. Ibrahim, who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and a service dog.
Her disability is permanent.
But every three years, she must go through a time-consuming process that will cost Metro more than $1 million this year to prove a basic fact of life for her and thousands of other riders: Her disability makes it difficult for her to ride Metrorail or Metrobus and therefore qualifies her for curb-to-curb MetroAccess service.
Door to Door finally (at least officially) comes to MetroAccess
One of the few "nice" things about Logisticare's handling of the MetroAccess contract was the diligence and compassion many drivers displayed towards providing practical levels of service to MetroAccess riders, informal assistance that was effectively stopped quite hard when MV Transit took over the service.
Part of that compassion and provision of practical service was the pseudo "door-to-door" service many drivers gave riders, as opposed to curb to curb.
Whilst WMATA initially tried to include this in their "perks" accusations of the time, the simple fact of the matter remained that this informal arrangement drivers offered to riders was, in many cases, the only way the service could be made to work efficiently.
MtroAccess sends out Customer Guides
Presumably, since both my husband and myself received them, MetroAccess has sent a mailshot to all MetroAccess riders containing the new Customer Guide booklet.
The accompanying letter is reproduced below - spelling errors are ours as a result of the scanning process.
April 18. 2008
To our valued MetroAccess customers:
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve service, beginning June 30, 2006, we will require all MetroAccess customers to show their valid MetroAccess ID card 100% of the time.
Post: Hired Riders to Assess Metro
Lena Sun of the Washington Post writes that the Metro Board has approved a plan to spend up to $1 million hiring "professional" mystery riders, who will go out and assess MetroRail and MetroBus services.
This isn't a new idea. As the Post notes, it's been done before, albeit using trained volunteers - and is something we at DC ParaTransit Info has mentioned before.
Done properly, it can produce relatively unbiased metrics about the service, as opposed to the idea of using customer feedback. Customer feedback tends to only concentrate on negatives - how many people actually take the time to call or write to WMATA to tell them they're doing a good job?
Metro During The Papal Visit
Updated 4-16-2008 @ 8:26am
WMATA is geared up for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to DC this week, with fixed-route service changes to cope with the expected crowds. This includes running rush-hour scheduling from 5am to 7pm on both Wednesday April 16th and Thursday April 17th.
Several fixed routes will be affected by rolling road closures over the course of the visit. The WMATA web site estimates that up to 16 fixed route bus services may be affected. MetroRail especially is likely to become very crowded, with large numbers of people from outside the area riding the system over the course of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
MetroRail Signage Revisted
Back in November of 2006, DC Paratransit Info reported in the introduction of the new 6000 series MetroRail stock.
As part of that report, we noted that the new cars suffered from the same lack of signage giving priority to people with disabilities - primarily wheelchair users.
This issue is one that seems to crop up frequently with MetroRail cars. The new 6000 series cars have wonderfully open areas at either end, as well as a place that's perfect for wheelchairs in the center - but other than the seats at the center, there is no signage indicating priority usage.
ERC v WMATA
In March 2004, a lawsuit was filed against WMATA, alleging that WMATA was failing to comply with federal laws with regards to the MetroAccess system.
Although the contractor providing MetroAccess service on behalf of WMATA changed (from LogistiCare to MV Transit) in 2006 the case continues to be in litigation.
Late last week, all MetroAccess subscribers received a "Notice of proposed class action settlement"
At the moment, the Judge hearing the suit will be holding a "Fairness Hearing" on May 22nd 2008. This may be the last chance people have to comment or object to any part of the proposed Settlement Agreement.
Not entirely accurate …
[UPDATED March 20th 2008]
We received a reply from Mr Glenn Millis, the Director of WMATA's Office of ADA Programs, to our email asking about the "Helpful Numbers" card incident:
Thank you for sharing your concern. The x1825 number was implemented to allow customers with disabilities encountering problems while riding buses to obtain immediate assistance and to report problems. I can't tell you why the person who answered your phone call was so far off base. The phone is answered and its purpose fulfilled frequently. I will report the problem you encountered to our customer complaint department and also pass it on the the director of our bus control center where the phone is answered. Thank you for reporting this.
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