MetroAccess Rules Are Eased

Disabled Riders Gain Flexibility in Making Reservations

The Metro board approved plans yesterday to give riders of Metro's curb-to-curb service for the disabled more flexibility in making reservations and canceling trips and recommended that the contractor schedule trips by geographic areas to reduce their length.

The board also approved a $1.1 billion operating budget, about 9 percent higher than the $1 billion fiscal 2006 budget, and a $734.5 million capital improvement budget. Fares will not be increased for the second year in a row. The local jurisdictions served by Metro would pay a $461 million subsidy, about 5.9 percent higher than the $434 million paid in fiscal 2006.

The directors also gave a cautious go-ahead for staff to develop an entertainment program in subway stations, with particular focus on the effect entertainers would have on passenger flow, safety and security.

On MetroAccess, a service that provides rides for about 16,000 elderly or disabled people, the board adopted the recommendations of an advisory committee created in January shortly after the contractor, MV Transportation, took over service. After MV began its service, Metro was deluged with complaints about rides failing to show up or being late, long and circuitous routes, rude telephone service and lost drivers.

Some of the recommendations, such as better customer service and improved driver sensitivity training, will not cost more money. But other recommendations -- to increase the number of dispatchers and schedulers, improve Metro's oversight and implement door-to-door service -- will carry a price tag. For those, the board agreed to pay $50,000 to a paratransit consultant to study implementation costs.

The advisory group had found, for example, that each of MV's schedulers typically manages 70 to 125 "runs," the list of a driver's trips, double or triple the industry "best practice," which is typically 40 to 50 runs.

Each MV dispatcher also manages about 90 weekday runs, or three times the number for paratransit best practice.

"The recommendations will allow for more open communication and involvement with customers and ensure quality and more reliable scheduling," said T. Dana Kauffman, the board member who chaired the ad hoc committee with rider advocate Dennis Jaffe.

MetroAcccess customers will be allowed to cancel trips up to two hours before a scheduled pickup and make reservations seven days ahead, instead of the 14 days now required. Users who fail to show up for a trip will be given a courtesy notice for the first offense.

MV will also consider scheduling by zone where possible, long a complaint of riders who say their routes often defy common sense.

The changes come almost two weeks after the director of MetroAccess, Pamela Wilkins, was reassigned. Wilkins oversaw the transition in January from the previous contractor to MV Transportation.

Metro's interim general manager, Dan Tangherlini, appointed Steve Yaffe, 50, the planning manager of Fairfax County's transit service for human service agencies, to be Metro's new chief operating officer for community transportation services, effective July 5. Like Metro's chief operating officers for rail and bus service, Yaffe will report directly to Tangherlini.

Separately, MV announced the resignation yesterday of Inez Evans, the general manager primarily responsible for MetroAccess service. MV said Adem Adem, general manager of its New York paratransit operation, will take over until a permanent replacement is found.

MetroAccess provides about 4,500 rides on an average weekday, or nearly 1.5 million trips a year.