Complaints mount against ASI (Part 2)

Access’ board of directors contacted the Office of the Inspector General, a federal oversight agency, after complaints against the transportation service increased. Access, also known as ASI (Access Service Incorporated), was advised by the agency to hire an independent firm, and in August of 2007, the accounting firm Cobb, Bazilio and Associates was hired to conduct the audit.

In the last year, complaints from hundreds of disabled riders against Access Paratransit were for lax riding safety measures and drivers’ ability to safely transport customers who are fragile and in need of special riding conditions.
As the facts poured in, I decided to take a deeper journalistic approach to this matter. I engaged in a series of several interviews, to find out what experiences other riders have lived with ASI. I also quoted elected officials, and the executive director of ASI.

Daniel Duran, a CSUN counselor at the Center on Disabilities, said his $15,000 electric wheelchair was damaged after a driver failed to properly secure his chair to special frames located in the minivans’ ground and sides. Duran said he had to wait several weeks before his medical insurance approved the repairs.

“When I tell them how to tie my wheelchair with the tiedowns, the drivers get upset. Heavy chairs must be tie down in special ways,” Duran said. “They need better training workshops. They don’t talk about disabilities.”

CSUN’s Center on Disabilities offers counseling and support services to about 850 currently enrolled disabled students. Duran estimates at least 60 students use Access Paratransit as mean of daily transportation.

Mary Griffieth, an Access rider, said she depends on the service because she now finds that some MTA facilities lack maintenance and don’t fit the special safety needs of wheelchair passengers. She also complained about the hygiene of Access drivers and said some drivers come to work with dirty uniforms.

“We wheelchair riders especially have to wait sometimes 15 minutes, depending on what area the [MTA] trains and buses pull on for them to locate the tram, because all of the platforms are not wheelchair accessible,” Griffieth said. “We need better Access transportation.”

Many riders also complained that Access’ scheduled pick-up times are inconvenient and drivers are unreliable.

Disabled CSUN student Cory Johnson said Access Paratransit Services’ booking schedules are inconvenient and inefficient for riders. Johnson depends on the service to travel from his central Los Angeles home to campus or to local libraries to do his homework.

“For me, timed pickups are of major concern. We sometimes need to book 24 hours before pickup time for the drivers to pick us up to drive us where we need to go,” Johnson said. “The problem begins when they take away your independence. We need to plan ahead a lot of time before.”

Johnson, an English major, said about two years ago ASI started to deteriorate when the ride-share program was introduced and many drivers began to show signs of stress.

Johnson said in order to arrive at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Norwalk by 9 a.m., he must book a ride to be picked up at least two to three hours before arrival time.

At a March 26 public hearing in the City of Los Angeles council chambers, Shelly Lyons Verrinder, executive director of Access Paratransit Services, said the rideshare program was established by the Paratransit Transportation Agency as a way to save resources and to maximize time on commuting trips. Riders call in and request to be picked up, and dispatchers and staff configure computer routed maps that follow close directions for two to five passengers at the same time.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires Access to book ride reservations before 9 p.m. the day before the actual ride.