Study Raps Metro on Service for Disabled

Focus on Cutting Costs Is Decried

The first comprehensive study of MetroAccess found the transportation system for the disabled does not meet the needs of its riders, is focused on cutting costs at the expense of good service, fails to adequately communicate with passengers and compares poorly with similar services in other major cities.

The study, to be released today by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, identifies shortcomings in the way MetroAccess is designed, managed and operated by Metro. Across the region, 16,000 disabled riders who are physically unable to ride the subway or regular bus depend on MetroAccess. They tend to be female, African American, older than 60 and poor.

And they are not well served by MetroAccess, according to the 109-page study. Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter -- who chaired the study panel of elected leaders, transportation providers, Metro staff members and disabled riders -- said the region can do better.

"It is difficult to run any kind of transit system in a very urbanized area," Porter said. "But there are examples around the country where transit systems have done a better job than MetroAccess. . . . MetroAccess has a lot of improvements to make."

The study makes 20 recommendations for improving MetroAccess, including five high-priority changes that are relatively simple and inexpensive and could be done within six months, said Wendy Klancher, a transportation planner and co-author of the study.

The high-priority items are: giving out better information to riders, improving the complaint process, creating a user group to advise Metro officials on policy and practice, providing same-day service and submitting to an independent review of MetroAccess by January 2007.

MetroAccess service has long been the target of complaints, and a group of disabled riders filed a lawsuit last year contending that the service is so poor it violates federal law. But when Metro switched service providers Jan. 15, the transition from Logisticare Inc. to MV Transportation made previous service problems pale in comparison.

In the first three weeks under the new contractor, Metro received record numbers of complaints from riders, thousands of whom said they were stranded, picked up late or mistreated by drivers or reservationists. MV executives have blamed poor data from Logisticare, the learning curve of new drivers and reservationists and telephone problems.

The study being released today identifies structural problems that persist despite the change in contractors, Porter said. "We were looking at long-term structural problems," she said. "The transition has exacerbated underlying problems in the system."

The study found that MetroAccess was inferior to similar services provided in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.

One of Metro's most-expensive programs, MetroAccess costs taxpayers about $50 million a year. The authors of the study suggest that MetroAccess is an inflexible system that fails to meet the needs of users in part because Metro managers are focused on cutting costs. MV Transportation was the low bidder for the current contract, undercutting the next-highest bidder by about 20 percent.

For example, Metro's contract with MV Transportation calls for curb-to-curb service, which means MV is responsible only for picking up passengers at the curb and delivering them to the curb outside a doctor's office, place of employment or other destination.