Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today sent the following letter to Dan Tangherlini, Interim General Manager, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
February 21, 2006
Mr. Dan Tangherlini
Interim General Manager
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
600 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Mr. Tangherlini:
I appreciated the opportunity that I had recently to meet with the staff of MetroAccess and MV Transportation and tour the MetroAccess Communications Center. This meeting allowed me to better understand the mechanics of the system and the policies that guide the program.
As you may know, I requested that meeting after being flooded with complaints from my constituents regarding the quality of service they have been receiving since the transition to MV from LogistiCare. While I appreciate WMATA and MV’s stated commitment to improving the service, I must measure progress by the number and severity of the complaints that I receive. Unfortunately, by that measure, significant problems remain. Since our meeting on February 10, 2006, the number and severity of complaints have not decreased.
The areas of greatest difficulty fall into the following categories:
1. Timeliness: Riders continue to complain that the vehicles arrive outside the 30-minute window or not at all. Often, riders are classified as “no shows” when, in fact, they had been waiting and the vehicle never arrived.
2. Travel time: Notwithstanding the reasonable delays inherent in a shared-ride system, riders complain of unreasonable and unpredictable travel times. The GPS system often prescribes complicated and incorrect travel routes; riders often are required to share vehicles with riders from vastly different geographic areas; and riders are often required to wait unreasonably lengthy periods of time when the vehicle arrives at a destination before it is opened and a fellow passenger may be discharged.
3. Communication system: Riders continue to complain that, in calling the Communications Center, they are given incorrect information, are placed on hold for long periods of time, have their calls disconnected, and never receive promised returned calls or responses to their written complaints. The failure to provide cell phones to the drivers prevents the drivers from communicating with the parents or care providers of the developmentally disabled and those with verbal communication difficulties.
4. Data: MV’s database contains factual errors that did not exist prior to the transition. Drivers have attempted to pick up riders with the wrong type of vehicle (e.g., a sedan where a van with a lift is required) or seek to meet the rider at the wrong location. Even after the correct information is provided, the same errors recur.
5. Employee rudeness and/or insensitivity: Riders continue to complain of driver rudeness and insensitivity to their needs and disabilities.
6. Consistency for subscription riders, especially the developmentally disabled
riders: Many developmentally disabled riders participate in day programs provided by organizations such as CSS, SEEC/VIA, Rock Creek Foundation, ARC, and CHI. Consistency is critical for these riders. Prior to the transition, the riders usually had the same driver, the same fellow passengers going to the same facility, the same pickup schedule and the same travel route. The drivers were able to become familiar with the needs of the passengers, and the riders felt secure in that they knew the driver and the other passengers.
Since the transition, these subscription rides have been fraught with inconsistencies, frustration and anxiety. Riders now have different drivers most days, different fellow passengers traveling to a variety of locations, different pickup and drop off times, different travel routes and different trip durations. The drivers do not understand the passengers and their needs, and the riders and their families have no way of knowing if they are traveling in a safe environment.
Developing a specific plan to safely and effectively meet the needs of this special population is essential.
7. Safety concerns: Many constituents are seriously concerned about the safety of the riders. Developmentally disabled individuals have been taken to the wrong locations and left alone. Vulnerable individuals have been left waiting alone at night for a vehicle that is hours late. Medically frail individuals have waited many hours for their ride to an important doctor appointment or to be taken home after an exhausting medical treatment.
8. Curb-to-curb service: Many riders encounter difficulty with the strict enforcement of the curb-to-curb service policy, especially in situations where the arrival time of the vehicle has fluctuated greatly. Although I have been advised by MetroAccess that a “telephone alert” system has been implemented to notify riders that their ride has arrived, riders complain that such calls are not routinely received and often provide inaccurate information.
9. Difficulty locating addresses: Constituents complain that drivers are often unfamiliar with the geographic area and unable to determine when the instructions provided by the GPS don’t make sense. Subscription riders with a complicated address complain that each new driver must begin anew in his efforts to locate the address, rather than have the instructions entered into the rider’s file.
10. Incomplete implementation of all program features: Not all vehicles have been provided with the GPS system and not all drivers are using the telephone alert system, both of which are vital to the effective operation of the system.
11. Passengers in wheelchairs: These riders have sometimes been required to wait in their wheelchairs for unreasonably long periods before being picked up and then endure extremely long rides before arriving at their destination.
My staff has been in regular contact with the WMATA and MV staff regarding the specific details of each of the difficulties reported to me by my constituents. I would be pleased to supplement this letter with the relevant documentation.
MetroAccess provides disabled riders with the transportation they need to carry on full and productive lives. Unlike many non-disabled riders, they usually cannot resort to other means of transportation and are highly dependent on a public transportation system that is reliable, timely, safe and respectful. The system currently available to them, which is causing many from obtaining scheduled medical treatment, arriving at their workplaces on time, and otherwise going about their daily lives, is simply unsatisfactory and has on occasion even been potentially life-threatening.
It is imperative that immediate steps be taken to address and resolve these problems as expeditiously as possible. I welcome the opportunity to do anything I can to facilitate an improvement in the service.
Sincerely,
Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress
cc: Mr. Jon Monson, CEO, MV Transportation, Inc.
Ms. Deborah Lipman, Director, Office of Intergovernmental Rels., WMATA
Ms. Pamela Wilkins, Ass’t General Manager for Contract Services, WMATA