By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 30, 2006; B10
Three taxicab companies that each provide hundreds of trips a week for the region's disabled transit riders say they are not getting prompt reimbursement from the company that operates the MetroAccess service, a situation that could hurt service down the road, cab company executives said yesterday.
Although the companies have received some payment since they began providing trips Jan. 15 for MV Transportation, the new MetroAccess contractor, they are still owed nearly half a million dollars, the executives said.
The three companies that provide service for MetroAccess are Red Top Cab Co. in Arlington and its affiliate Fairfax Yellow Cab in Fairfax; Barwood Inc. in Montgomery County; and Taxi-Taxi Inc., a dispatch network for 10 cab companies in Prince George's County.
Red Top, which was owed nearly $200,000, received a payment yesterday that "considerably covers what we consider to be past-due invoices," said Von Pelot, the company's marketing director. But he said the payment came only after he made repeated telephone calls expressing dissatisfaction.
Red Top and Fairfax Yellow Cab provide about 800 MetroAccess trips a week, he said. The taxi companies reimburse the drivers and then submit invoices to MV.
"If the situation doesn't get resolved, it's going to have an impact on the ability of MetroAccess to deliver transportation services to its customers," Pelot said. "Clearly, the taxi companies can't continue to be operating under these circumstances."
An MV spokeswoman acknowledged the delays in payment and said they were caused by questionable or incomplete invoices from the taxi companies.
"We want to make sure that we are being billed for accurate trips," said spokeswoman Nikki Frenney, who said the company hopes to speed up payments in the coming weeks.
MV Transportation operates the public transportation system that provides a shared-ride, curb-to-curb service for about 16,000 disabled and elderly residents in the region.
More than half of the registered riders live in suburban Maryland; 28 percent live in the District; and 18 percent live in Northern Virginia, according to Metro statistics.
In addition to the MetroAccess fleet of vehicles, MV uses subcontractors and taxi companies to provide the estimated 4,300 trips on an average weekday.
MetroAccess has received a record number of complaints under the new contractor. Customers complained about rides that were late or did not show up and drivers who were unfamiliar with the streets. Some customers have said their trips are smoother when MV uses a taxi.
Lee Barnes, owner of Barwood, the dominant taxi provider in Montgomery County, said he is still owed "in the mid-100s" from MV and has complained. Barwood provides about 600 MetroAccess trips a week, he said.
"We had to rattle the saber," he said.
Taxi-Taxi Inc., based in Landover, dispatches 700 to 800 MetroAccess trips a week and has submitted about six invoices. But the company has received payment for only two invoices and is still owed close to $300,000, according to lawyer John Lally.
"It's a significant receivable," he said.
