Apology For Transit Program's Shortfalls

Agency's Chief Vows MetroAccess Changes

Gladys W. Mack said a committee would hear directly from riders. (James A. Parcell - Twp)

Metro board Chairman Gladys W. Mack publicly apologized yesterday for the poor service suffered by disabled riders using the MetroAccess system and said a new committee would be holding a public forum to hear directly from affected patrons.

A few minutes before Mack's apology, Ann Pimley, 56, a blind resident, told Metro board members about her recent attempt to reach the Cannon House Office Building. Instead of heading to Capitol Hill, her MetroAccess driver had circled the Jefferson Memorial several times. Finally, she said, a pedestrian gave the driver directions to Pimley's destination.

The Cannon building, a frequently visited location in Washington, is bounded by Independence Avenue, First Street, New Jersey Avenue and C Street SE.

"I told them they could drop me off at Independence Avenue," Pimley said.

But the reservation agent at MetroAccess said the computerized scheduling system required a street address, and the system did not have one for the Cannon building.

A supervisor put in a specific address, Pimley said, but the driver, using a Global Positioning System device, ended up going around the Jefferson Memorial.

Pimley suggested that the contractor, MV Transportation, review its reliance on GPS and "put the correct information into the system, so riders don't have to go through this aggravation and stress that I had to go through."

Nikki Frenney, a spokeswoman for MV Transportation, said the company was reviewing all the locations in its database to determine whether identifying landmarks need to be added. Pimley's driver went to the Tidal Basin area because the reservationist entered "SW" instead of "SE." As drivers and dispatchers become more familiar with buildings and customers, she said, "situations such as what happened to Ms. Pimley last week will not occur."

MetroAccess came up again in Dan Tangherlini's first official remarks before the Metro board after being sworn in as the agency's interim general manager. Acknowledging that the service is one of his top priorities, Tangherlini called Pimley's suggestions a "great idea."

"I don't have a 23-point plan," he said. "I have a one-point plan -- to put the customer first."

After the meeting, he said he wanted to look into ways to provide better and "less rigid" ways of giving directions to drivers.

It has been a month since MV Transportation took over the MetroAccess curb-to-curb van service for the 16,000 disabled riders across the region who are physically unable to ride the subway or buses. Riders say problems continue even though MetroAccess officials and MV Transportation executives say the service is improving.