More on ADA Paratransit

[jazzyjj]

Hi folks. I'm back with some more questions regarding ADA paratransit. First off, does anyone happen to know if the powers-that-be keep records of any kind regarding disabilities of paratransit riders in a given locale? This question may seem on the surface to be a bit confidential, but here's why I'm asking. Several weeks ago I was told that my requests for door-to-door assistance are not that common. I took that to mean nobody or hardly anyone in my area needs the drivers to actually get out of their vehicles and assist people to said vehicles, provided passengers aren't standing outside specifically waiting for their ride. A few weeks ago when I booked a round trip, I didn't let the reservationist know that I needed door-to-door assistance until she was about to give me the estimated pick-up time, and she informed me that she was going to have to reschedule my trip. Just for needing door-to-door assistance but not specifying that at the correct time. On a related note, do any of you paratransit riders have the option of scheduling online and creating a profile? This would be so much easier. I'd rather not have to specify my exact needs every single time. I used to not mind doing this, but now I'd really prefer not to repeat myself if at all possible. I'm wondering if this may somehow be confusing the dispatchers? A lot of the paratransit vehicles here nowadays seem to be hybrids, which inandof itself is not a problem with me. However, I have difficulty hearing these hybrids with all the other traffic. This can present quite the dilemma when one only has light perception. Update: The local bus company rolled out an online portal about a year ago. The good news is that it is accessible at least with the 2 screen readers I'm currently using. But the bad news--or perhaps somewhat bad--is that it is not currently possible to book trips online. I read that trips can be cancelled online, but I haven't found a way to do that yet.

Comments

[gingicat]

In Boston, The Ride provides door-to-door service to everyone, even friends of mine who are a little embarrassed by it.

[jadelennox]

Are they less shit than they used to be? My sister once lost a job because the Ride wasn't reliable enough.

(Granted, it was one of those exploitative legal slavery jobs with Goodwill, so [1] I'm glad she lost the job, and [2] fuck Goodwill anyway, for paying people pennies an hour because it's so haaaaaard to work with disabled people and then firing them because the paratransit sucks.)

[gingicat]

They're still crap on scheduling, but the drivers are SOOOO much better.

[jadelennox]

I'm guessing it depends on your particular paratransit organization and your state laws.

Also, the reservationist shouldn't have told you that your request was rare. That's out of line.

[jazzyjj]

Thanks all for your responses. The problem with the drivers not getting out of their vehicles to assist me actually got better for a little while, but it has gotten worse again. In addition, a sister of mine who recently became paratransit-eligible has experienced this too. These drivers are so good, but there seems to be a communication breakdown between driver and dispatcher. On-time performance has drastically improved though, which is a good thing indeed.