A class action lawsuit, filed in April in Manhattan Federal Court by three paratransit users and the New York Integrated Network, alleges Access-a-Ride fails to provide service comparable to what individuals without disabilities receive on the city’s fixed route systems, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. They say Access-a-Ride discriminates against disabled New Yorkers by making them wait longer and take less direct routes than subway and bus riders.
Those seeking a ride on the system’s blue-and-white vans are generally required to schedule trips a day in advance and accept a pickup time as much as an hour earlier or later than requested. The suit alleges delays abound regardless of scheduling.
“Access-A-Ride delays often last hours,” the complaint reads. Once Access-A-Ride passengers wait a full 30 minutes, they are supposed to be allowed to request authorization for a taxi or car service. Those rides are reimbursed, but the process can take months, the suit alleges.
The suit also slams the paratransit system for a lack of established routes, claiming Access-A-Ride users are “routinely and unpredictably driven all over the city on excessively long routes.” The suit follows an October letter of findings from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), demanding the MTA address “significant untimely drop-offs and excessive travel times” on Access-A-Ride.
A DOJ spokesperson said the agency did not file its own suit because the MTA was cooperating with the investigation, but directed the MTA to keep better data on trips and ensure average trips are no more than 15 minutes longer than one in a comparable bus or subway. MTA chair Janno Lieber said the investigation was based on 2016 data, and that the system has since been improved significantly.
“We’ve transitioned most of paratransit from the blue-and-white vans – which pick up multiple people, and as a result tend to have longer travel times taking more circuitous routes – to for-hire vehicles,” Lieber said. “Most people get a direct ride. We’ve moved to 95% on time performance and dramatically reduced the rate of no-shows. Customer satisfaction has gone from something in the mid 40% to 72%.”
Source: Yahoo News
