November 17, 2006

Yesterday was November 17, 2006. As usual there was some late issue involved.  I thought it might be prudent to get some of these complaints down on this BLOG.  I don't always document it all.  It really is a job in itself.

The 12:03 PM pick up arrived over an hour late.  Likewise the return ride at 2:41 PM arrived over an hour late.

I thought it was interesting to hear the driver Ron, say to me that drivers don't like calling in to report a passenger not wanting to pay when their ride arrived late.  I ended up agreeing with him that it was something that no one wanted to do.

I only hoped that someone might get the picture of how the passenger felt after having to wait for over an hour to get a ride that was booked precisely to the minute by a computer system that promised to be better than the old fashioned human way.

Clearly the new way has not been working out.  The insult to injury is when drivers demand the $2 after they are an hour late.  This $2 waiver from being an hour late is supposed to also be an incentive for contracted services to dispatch drivers early enough so that they are not late.  When drivers don't stick to the rule, then the pattern persists.

The End

November 11, 2006

I know it is not the intention for riders to be stranded.  But what do you do when a ride is 2 hours late and you can't complain to the Paratransit service because the recording says no one is on duty?  This happenned Saturday night past 5 PM while I was waiting for my 3:03 PM ride to return home.

Shouldn't we provide a back up system for over 20,000 passengers using the service daily?

Sanford

PCA/Companion

On Changes

By Sanford Rosenthal

 

Sometimes they are for the better, while other times they are not.  Last night I realized how a change had been for the worse.

Picking up a Companion or PCA after the consumer was picked up, used to be allowed .  This is important if a rider needs help at the ultimate destination.

Likewise it use to be allowed to drop off a PCA or a companion on the way back.  Now all this has changed.  Pick ups and drop offs of PCA's as well as Companions are not allowed any more.  Customer Service Specialist Maurine at TOPS informed me just now that there has been a change implemented from how it used to be done.

This new policy only serves to reduce the consumer's ability to use the paratransit service.  When an assistant is not allowed to gain access into the van in this way, the one being penalized, is the consumer.  Many assistants don't have cars to drive over to the consumer's place of residence.

More than likely it is an imposition already to ask for the assistant to accompany a consumer.  It seems like an added insult when these pick ups and drop offs are directly on the pathway to or from the destination.

When can we return to sanity?  Isn't the idea to help persons with disabilities to get out in the community?  Why add obstacles to their lives if we don't have to?

The End