Disabled Riders Question Need For MetroAccess Recertification

Washingtonpost.com 

Disabled Riders Question Need For MetroAccess Recertification

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2008; B01

Nadia Ibrahim, a policy adviser for the Labor Department, gets to work from her Rockville home by taking MetroAccess, a paratransit service operated by Metro. Ibrahim, who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and a service dog.

Her disability is permanent.

But every three years, she must go through a time-consuming process that will cost Metro more than $1 million this year to prove a basic fact of life for her and thousands of other riders: Her disability makes it difficult for her to ride Metrorail or Metrobus and therefore qualifies her for curb-to-curb MetroAccess service.

"I find it sort of insane that you take MetroAccess to get recertified to show that you need MetroAccess," said Ibrahim, 37. "It's a process that doesn't make logical sense."

Metro officials said the process is necessary because eligibility for the federally mandated shared-ride service depends on a person's physical ability.

People do not automatically qualify because they have a permanent disability.

But faced with mounting customer complaints, MetroAccess officials said they want to find ways to streamline the process.

"We are considering broader changes to the application and eligibility assessment process for the coming year, but they will require a substantial amount of public discussion, planning and, in some cases, board approval before they will be implemented," said Christian Kent, Metro's chief of disability services, which include MetroAccess.

The Washington area has numerous specialized transportation services for people with disabilities, of which MetroAccess is by far the largest. The contractor, MV Transportation, provides rides to about 19,000 customers in Virginia, Maryland and the District whose ability to use Metrorail or Metrobus is limited.

MetroAccess is the transit agency's costliest and fastest-growing service, reflecting the needs of the area's aging population. The service accounts for about 6 percent of the agency's $1.2 billion operating budget, and ridership is soaring, increasing 16 percent this year from last year, statistics show.

Riders took about 5,300 trips in March.

According to a consultant's report that has not been released publicly, MetroAccess ridership in 2013 is projected to be nearly 2.8 million trips, more than double the 1.2 million trips taken last year. Those projections mean that the next five years could bring dramatically higher costs.

Long the focus of customer criticism, MetroAccess began operating under a new contractor two years ago, when Metro signed a four-year, $204 million deal with MV Transportation. But the transition was managed poorly. Record numbers of complaints about quality and reliability of service inundated the agency.

Service has improved, but monthly on-time performance has failed to meet its 93.5 percent goal since July, statistics show. Officials say they have not been able to keep up with demand.

At the same time, fare increases and trip restrictions at other paratransit services, such as Arlington STAR, have diverted some rides to MetroAccess, Arlington Transit Services Manager Steve Yaffe said.

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board will conduct an independent review of the troubled service at the end of this month, according to senior planner Wendy Klancher. The review will look into late trips, circuitous routing and the eligibility process.

Sandra Sermons, 34, a government contracting officer who is blind and has been using MetroAccess for about 10 years, said: "Considering that MetroAccess is cash-strapped, that it already can't serve the patrons it has, why are you wasting money on recertifying people with permanent disabilities when you could funnel the money into new vehicles and better training for drivers?"

Last month, MetroAccess added 65 wheelchair-accessible vans to its dedicated fleet, bringing the total to 425, officials said. Starting June 30, riders will get door-to-door service instead of the current curb-to-curb. Fares remain unchanged, at $2.50 to $6.50 each way, but the average trip costs Metro about $35.

In addition to paratransit service, MetroAccess customers receive free rides on Metrorail, Metrobus and other bus systems.

MetroAccess Director Selene Dalton-Kumins said the key measure of paratransit eligibility is a person's physical ability to walk or travel a certain distance.

That ability varies by individual and environment and can change. A blind person who lives far from a train station, for example, might move to a home within walking distance of one, she said.

Riders whose physical abilities are never going to change say that MetroAccess should find a way to shortcut the eligibility process.

David Sharp, 55, an office manager, had polio as a child and later had a stroke. He uses a motorized wheelchair, and his mobility is limited to partial use of his right arm. He has had to renew his MetroAccess eligibility three times. "My condition is not going to change, short of a miracle," he said.

The same is true for Scheronne Briggs, 38, a workforce development specialist who regularly rides the train and bus but uses the paratransit service when necessary. Briggs has cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair. When her MetroAccess eligibility lapsed last fall, she said, she wasn't able to schedule an appointment for the required face-to-face assessment. In addition to her day job, she was taking night classes. MetroAccess refused to provide her service.

She had to wait for a 10:30 p.m. bus to go home after class.

"It was dark, and the first couple of times the bus didn't see me, so I had to wait another 40 minutes," said Briggs, who has since regained her eligibility.

Metro officials said that their priority in the coming weeks is making the switch to door-to-door service and that they need to focus on that before dealing with eligibility. "But we're looking forward to engaging in a conversation about that in the coming year," Dalton-Kumins said.

More than 7,000 people applied for MetroAccess service this year, officials said. Metro staff members said they don't keep track of how many applicants had permanent disabilities. Prospective riders have to complete an application, including a doctor's certification of disability, before being assessed by a licensed therapist in a face-to-face meeting.

Kent said through a spokeswoman that the denial rate is "very low."

The average processing time is about two months, he said. But there is a backlog because of limited appointments with therapists. Ridership growth also has strained resources.

The long waits are particularly hard on cancer patients who need frequent and timely treatment, said Craig Fritz, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society . Cancer Society officials are urging Metro to allow immediate MetroAccess service to people undergoing treatment for serious or chronic illness, such as chemotherapy for cancer and dialysis for kidney failure.

Other applicants said the application process takes so long -- more than six months in some cases -- that they wonder whether the delays are intentional, a charge that officials deny.

One Montgomery County  social service agency manager has been trying to sign up 50 clients with severe cognitive disabilities. The clients would mostly use their MetroAccess ID cards to ride free on Metrorail and Metrobus and would use MetroAccess only occasionally, she said.

She sent applications in October. MetroAccess personnel told her repeatedly that paperwork for some cases had been lost. She resent applications three or four times. In March, she was given interview dates: in July.

"I'd be willing to take losing [applications] once, but three and four times?" said the manager, who did not want to be identified for fear that Metro would retaliate by denying her clients' applications. "You start to go, 'Come on, people.' "