Via Garibaldi 8 Posted January 22, 2018 Share #1 Posted January 22, 2018 Audit finds problems in handling complaints about Access-A-Ride service (Shutterstock image) Eyewitness News Monday, January 22, 2018 11:01AM NEW YORK (WABC) -- An audit by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer found numerous problems in the handling of complaints about the MTA's Access-A-Ride service. The audit found thousands of complaints go unresolved for months in violation of MTA requirements. Access-A-Ride provides transit service for people with disabilities who are unable to use public bus or subway services. Stringer investigated what happened when riders call the MTA about delays, safety violations and other complaints. "Rather than finding an organized, competent system to manage tens of thousands of complaints, the Comptroller's Office discovered that the MTA - which contracts with outside vendors for Access-A-Ride service - doesn't actually investigate the bulk of rider complaints itself," the Comptroller's Office said. "Instead, it sends those complaints to the private contractors who riders claim have provided shoddy service to begin with. " The audit found that 43 percent of Access-A-Ride complaints remained unresolved past the MTA's own deadlines. Stringer called for the MTA to create a new position of Access-A-Ride Ombudsperson to overhaul the complaint system and fix bureaucratic breakdowns within the service. In response to Stringer's audit, the MTA released this statement Monday: "Since the audit was conducted in 2016 there have been a series of aggressive actions and improvements to paratransit, including the launch tomorrow of a live online dashboard that reports performance in six different categories to the public. NYC Transit is committed to continuing to improve service and that includes strengthening incident and complaint tracking controls, a new e-hail pilot and GPS tracking to streamline booking, and the creation of a permanent Paratransit Task Force by Chairman Lhota." Source: http://abc7ny.com/traffic/audit-finds-problems-in-handling-complaints-about-access-a-ride/2974201/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brillant93 Posted January 22, 2018 Share #2 Posted January 22, 2018 my mom uses Access A Ride and she constantly has issues and she even had it out with customer service. You know the MTA really needs to be gutted inside and out. Way too many flaws in a system and its because the wrong people are running it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted January 22, 2018 37 minutes ago, Brillant93 said: my mom uses Access A Ride and she constantly has issues and she even had it out with customer service. You know the MTA really needs to be gutted inside and out. Way too many flaws in a system and its because the wrong people are running it. I wonder if it would be cheaper to just have these people use Uber or Lyft... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brillant93 Posted January 22, 2018 Share #4 Posted January 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I wonder if it would be cheaper to just have these people use Uber or Lyft... Probably not. It would cost like 60 bucks depending how deep into the city you live. Also with congestion pricing that the state is coming up with it probably would cost even more on top of the initial cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted January 23, 2018 Share #5 Posted January 23, 2018 11 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I wonder if it would be cheaper to just have these people use Uber or Lyft... Uber or Lyft are not mandated to be accessible, which is part of the issue. 9 hours ago, Brillant93 said: Probably not. It would cost like 60 bucks depending how deep into the city you live. Also with congestion pricing that the state is coming up with it probably would cost even more on top of the initial cost. IIRC the subsidy is something like $50 a person, so we're getting there. Really, if the MTA got its head out of its ass and put some of the half billion dollars of Access-a-Ride towards elevatoring subway stations, we wouldn't need to spend so much. Even at ridiculous MTA costs, $500M is enough to fund 25-50 stations. Within ten years we'd have near 100% accessibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted January 23, 2018 Share #6 Posted January 23, 2018 I'll be that guy... screw it... Disabled people may not be the easiest of people to put up with at times & it's enough that they tend to be treated like 2nd class citizens.... Then in order to get around, you have a service that's (supposed to) cater to them - where you have jackass drivers that either [drive recklessly & curse out the folks they're transporting] or [don't bother showing up at all]..... All these people aren't going through the trouble with the application process & what not, to then start stiffing drivers left & right... It's one of the main complaints I hear that drivers have & I'm not buying it at all.... Before his passing, my father used Access a ride to get from Park Slope to here in East Flatbush to visit us (he was blind btw) & he would constantly call to tell us that he couldn't make it some weekends due to buses no showing..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrivera Posted January 23, 2018 Share #7 Posted January 23, 2018 16 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I wonder if it would be cheaper to just have these people use Uber or Lyft... They’ve been doing a pilot program in Boston since last year, so I don’t see why not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted January 23, 2018 52 minutes ago, paulrivera said: They’ve been doing a pilot program in Boston since last year, so I don’t see why not... Yeah it's something that's been floated around before. I mean I don't see how they're saving that much money using these contractors quite frankly. It's obvious that the service isn't any better than in the past. 1 hour ago, B35 via Church said: I'll be that guy... screw it... Disabled people may not be the easiest of people to put up with at times & it's enough that they tend to be treated like 2nd class citizens.... Then in order to get around, you have a service that's (supposed to) cater to them - where you have jackass drivers that either [drive recklessly & curse out the folks they're transporting] or [don't bother showing up at all]..... All these people aren't going through the trouble with the application process & what not, to then start stiffing drivers left & right... It's one of the main complaints I hear that drivers have & I'm not buying it at all.... Before his passing, my father used Access a ride to get from Park Slope to here in East Flatbush to visit us (he was blind btw) & he would constantly call to tell us that he couldn't make it some weekends due to buses no showing..... That's crazy. My mother was in a car accident and had problems with her legs from time-to-time. I can't remember if she ever used Access-A-Ride or not for doctor's appointments at times, but that's crazy to think that they're spending so much money on a service and the vans don't even show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted January 24, 2018 Share #9 Posted January 24, 2018 On 1/22/2018 at 3:47 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said: I wonder if it would be cheaper to just have these people use Uber or Lyft... They actually found it was cheaper to have users call private cabs and have those paid for by Access A Ride. For a while, you could use it to go anywhere, but now they have clamped down a bit and only allow you to travel within a borough using a private cab. Plus, you have to lay out the cash and get reimbursed, so only the middle or upper class users can really do that regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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