A March 5 article about problems with MetroAccess service did not make it clear that Scott McDaniel, a MetroAccess rider, is an employee of Service Sources Inc., which operates the Woodmont Center in Arlington County. The article also misstated the nature of his disabilities. McDaniel is legally blind, and although he has other disabilities, he and his parents say he is not mentally disabled.
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What Disabled Riders Endure
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Shah's wife handed him his cane and briefcase and guided him toward his ride. "You know where you're going?" he asked the driver, taking a seat in front of another passenger, Rita Citrenbaum, a teacher. "I-66," said the driver, pulling out.
The mission: Transport Citrenbaum eight miles to her school and Shah to Fourth Street and Maryland Avenue SW in the District. The GPS navigation device glowed in the darkness, but the driver, who said the talking technology makes him crazy, preferred to rely on his passengers.
"Do I make a right here or a left . . . ?" he asked.
"Make a right here . . . then make a left," said Shah, who carries his own GPS device. "Here you make a right."
"A right?" the driver asked.
"A right," Shah repeated.
The driver turned left, realized his error after a couple of miles, made a U-turn and headed for I-66, where the driver and passengers bonded over their sorry MetroAccess experiences.
Citrenbaum said she was picked up an hour late Monday morning and not at all in the afternoon: "I took a $45 cab."
At 6:51 a.m., the Washington Monument was in view, and nine minutes later, the van rolled up to the Department of Education. Shah got out and went to work on an early schedule, a decision he made to accommodate MetroAccess.
"I learned that you have to work the system," he had said earlier.
In the afternoon, the same driver arrived about 20 minutes early for the 3:45 p.m. pickup. Instead of touching the computer console that sends an automated call that the vehicle has arrived, the driver called Shah directly. Metro's contract with MV prohibits drivers from directly calling passengers. But that created problems, and Metro recently said it would test the idea of letting drivers call passengers.
The driver idled until Shah came down about 3:50 p.m. Sometimes, Shah said, he can figure out where the van is by listening for its beeps and rattles. If he can't, he asks a security guard.
