Metro Settles Disability Lawsuit

Agency to Give Riders Free Trips

Metro has agreed to give all MetroAccess riders 10 free trips and the transit agency will spend $12 million over the next three years to improve its troubled service for the disabled as part of a settlement of a lawsuit by advocates for people unable to use trains and buses.

If accepted by a federal judge in the District, the settlement, which the Metro board approved yesterday, would end more than three years of litigation over how Metro has treated the disabled. MetroAccess provides rides to 16,000 people.

The class-action lawsuit alleged that MetroAccess service was so poor that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Riders complained that MetroAccess routinely failed to show up and left people stranded; provided lengthy and circuitous routes; provided poor telephone and dispatch service; failed to provide accurate information on when rides would arrive; and failed to alert visually impaired users that their ride had arrived.

Although Metro maintained that its service met legal requirements, it recently hired a new contractor and has promised to overhaul the program.

"Continued litigation was not a solution," John B. Catoe Jr., Metro general manager, said in a statement yesterday. "We put our customers first. I believe this result is a positive outcome for all concerned."

As part of the settlement, Metro agreed to pay $2.2 million toward the legal bills incurred by the nonprofit Equal Rights Center, which filed the suit. The center was represented by Wiley Rein LLP and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. Wiley Rein has pledged any fees to the Washington Lawyers' Committee.

In addition to the free rides -- each ride is worth $2.50 -- each of the 14 users named in the suit will receive $5,000. The Equal Rights Center will receive $65,000 and each customer who was deposed for the lawsuit will receive $1,000.

The settlement also requires MetroAccess to offer riders door-to-door service, rather than just curbside pickup and drop off.

"MetroAccess is charged with delivering nothing less than life-sustaining transportation to thousands of D.C.-area residents," Rabbi Bruce E. Kahn, executive director of the Equal Rights Center, said in a statement. "The vehicles must arrive on time and at the right address. The drivers must grasp the importance of properly responding to the needs of their patrons. The consequences of failure are intolerable.''

E. Elaine Gardner, director of the Disability Rights Project at the Washington Lawyers' Committee, said the centerpiece of the settlement is the requirement to improve MetroAccess. She said the money will be used to implement changes that have been suggested in several reports criticizing the system, including one that blamed Metro managers for focusing more on cost-cutting than customer service. At about $50 million a year, MetroAccess is one of Metro's most expensive programs.

"The most important thing is that they are beefing up the program by putting $4 million a year into it," Gardner said. "Increasing the number of vehicles, driver training, the types of software -- all this will be implemented through the increased budget."

MetroAccess riders are circumspect. "They always say they are going to improve, but nothing happens," said Veronica Payne of Beltsville, who frequently uses the service. "I strongly hope it does." She said she received coupons for free MetroAccess rides in the mail two days ago but didn't know why. "I thought they were finally trying to make up for the problems I've been having," she said.

Gardner said that as part of the settlement, Metro also agreed to hiring consultants to oversee the program's performance.

"I'm pleased they reached this agreement, and it's essential that we vigorously enforce it," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has complained about MetroAccess service.

In March 2006, a dozen Washington Post reporters rode along with MetroAccess passengers on a single day. Most of the clients got where they needed to go when they needed to go, but 332 of the 4,265 trips made that day were problematic, meaning rides were either late or didn't show up.

Soon after Catoe took over as Metro general manager, he put MetroAccess under the control of Deputy General Manager Gerald Francis.