LA city council hears about ASI complaints (4)

Donna Pomerantz, who is a member of the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities, said ASI riders have told her some of the foldable-ramps in the minivans have missing latches that keep them still. When they ride, the worn, rickety conditions of the units make them feel unsafe. She added other riders have told her many drivers ignore how to safely latch electric wheelchairs that sometimes weight up to 500 pounds. Wheelchairs tend to become loose, and move around as the units lurch forward and make sudden stops.

Pomerantz also complained many drivers refuse to carry guide dogs, which must travel along with blind customers. When the drivers do agree to let the pets onboard, the pets sometimes are injured as the vans get crowded. And in order to reach their destinations on time, ASI drivers speed, which also endangers communters.

Pomerantz criticized an ongoing re-certification program, which also includes a transit evaluation test used to verify the medical conditions and the ability to ride buses and MTA trains of current Access riders. She said it has put a lot of stress on the disabled. Customers fear they could be denied ridership benefits.
The transit evaluation includes questions about the riders’ ability to use buses, completion of “simple functional tests” to measure abilities to use buses, and visual observations of the riders’ abilities to get around. Some evaluators ask riders to step up and simulate a walk to a bus stop. This evaluation takes about 45 minutes.

Those willing to go public with these allegations have contacted elected officials in Los Angeles.

Bill Powers, a blind Access Paratransit customer who currently doesn’t have certification to ride, said at a March 26, 2008 Los Angeles City Council public meeting chaired by second district councilwoman Wendy Greuel that once his wife was picked up later than expected, and either the driver, or dispatcher logged in a ‘no show off.’ He filed a written complaint in the ASI’s website. Within two days, the company answered that it had upheld the ‘no show off,’ and concluded the minivan’s arrival time was as scheduled.

Powers said the ASI’s complaint mechanism ASI is dysfunctional. He said in some cases complaints are misplaced, and are so badly filed by staff that customers never hear of case follow-ups. Powers said ASI’s corporate culture must change.

“The attitude of ‘We only have rides available at certain hours’ must change to ‘We are sorry, we committed a mistake in the ride booking. We’ll get you another ride on time,’” said Powers.

The ASI’s audit concluded the transportation agency needs improvement in areas such as management, development of a standard driver’s code of conduct and a more efficient system for processing and handling complaints.
Second District Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who also chairs the city’s public transportation committee, said her committee would closely watch the approach ASI would adopt to implement all the recommendations in the audit. She said the city’s department of transportation would investigate all complaints against ASI.

Greuel also said she would schedule another public hearing to get an update on the internal changes at ASI.