![]() Beck added that the “majority of the customers…will not be impacted” because their origination and destination trips are within the federally-required service area, and that Metro is “here to make sure our customers know that there are other possible transportation resources” if their trips fall outside the service area. Patti Beck, a spokesperson for Metro, said by email that over six months last year, 250 customers of 4,000 total made 10 or more regular trip requests and would not be eligible for the service beginning April 10. “One of the things you learn as a disabled person is it’s hard to get a job…and when you do get a job, what happens if suddenly your transportation is no longer there?” she said. Wallen said she heard from the family of a son with disabilities that they worry he won’t be able to get to his job anymore once the cuts take effect, because he works in an area that Call-A-Ride will no longer serve. “ These cuts actually affect more than just the 250 riders they are saying, but every single customer who may have a need to go into those areas,” Wallen said. Metro’s map of the paratransit changes shows in red the areas that will be eliminated from service starting April 10 (Source: ). Wallen does not live in a region that will be cut, but said all riders could be affected - for instance, if they need to visit a specialist doctor in the area that will no longer be served. “What frustrates us the most is that this is not a new problem. “I know they’re not meeting their basic minimum standards for service,” Wallen said in an interview with The Independent. She called news of cuts “frustrating,” and hopes the agency will investigate alternatives. Louis County resident with disabilities who has utilized Call-A-Ride over the last several decades and serves as transportation chair for Missouri Council of the Blind, said she and others have been pushing Metro to look into solutions to issues with the service for years. “It will help us reduce trip denials, reduce phone wait times, and provide more reliable paratransit service while making sure we continue to follow federal requirements,” Jeffrey Butler, general manager of Metro’s paratransit, wrote in a letter to a coalition of advocacy groups this week. The agency hopes the cuts - which it has estimated will impact 250 people - will make the service more reliable for those traveling within the adjusted boundaries. ![]() In January, roughly 18,000 of the 47,000 requests for Call-A-Ride had to be denied, Metro wrote in a letter to advocates this week. ![]() ![]() Metro said this month that 40% of operator positions for Call-A-Ride are unfilled, while demand for rides “has increased substantially.” ![]() Customers with disabilities can call to reserve a ride in a wheelchair-accessible van, which provides curb-to-curb service rather than operating on a fixed route.įor years, customers have faced steep wait times and high rates of denials for the service.Īt the heart of the issue is staffing. Louis county, as required by federal law. Metro Transit’s paratransit system, which is called Call-A-Ride, provides services for those with disabilities in St. It’s a move disability rights advocates have decried as a “cruel” solution to a real problem. Louis region’s public transit agency plans to “improve customer service” by making cuts to its paratransit system serving those with disabilities. ![]()
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