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Access-A-Ride Full of Flaws on Staten Island, Official Says

By Nicholas Rizzi | March 30, 2015 8:52am
 Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis released a report with 10 fixes the MTA can implement to improve Access-A-Ride services.
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis released a report with 10 fixes the MTA can implement to improve Access-A-Ride services.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

ARROCHAR — Access-A-Ride users on Staten Island deal with long waits and routes that take them across the city before getting home, according to a report released by Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis.

After her office received more than 63 complaints about the paratransit service, Malliotakis released a report Friday with recommendations the MTA could use to fix it.

"It is very clear that there are multiple problems with the Access-A-Ride program," Malliotakis said.

"I've compiled a list of 10 recommendations to the MTA that I believe will increase the service and the quality of life for our seniors and the disabled [who] rely so much on the Access-A-Ride program."

Her fixes include making the riders' re-certification and permanent certification process easier, using more car services than vans and giving riders a voice on the MTA board.

Access-A-Ride — a paratransit system run by the city for people with disabilities who can't use public transportation — currently serves an estimated 14,000 residents in Staten Island and makes 600,000 trips a year in the borough, Malliotakis said. 

One rider, Francis Noren, 80, of New Dorp, said she uses Access-A-Ride twice a week to go to her doctor's office in Brooklyn, but sometimes arrives late to appointments.

She said drivers make pick-ups on the other side of Staten Island first — even though they pass by her home on the way — or she gets stuck traveling to other parts of the city before they drop her off.

"It's like they're going around the world," Noren said. "There's no system. You're just wasting time, wasting gas and you're not really doing the right thing."

For Lillian Bisci, 88, of Dongan Hills, who has arthritis and can't walk up stairs, the need to visit a doctor and get re-certified for the service every five years is the biggest problem she has with Access-A-Ride.

"It's getting the paperwork and everything else, why do I have to do it all?" she said. "You're condition doesn't get any better, you get worse."

A spokesman for the MTA, Kevin Ortiz, said the agency participated in Malliotakis' forums and several of her recommendations — including a way for continued eligibility for patients — were already in place. 

Ortiz said that around 40 percent of users in Staten Island use livery cab services instead of the share rides, which are more expensive to run.

"As a reminder, all that ADA requires is that we provide paratransit service that is comparable to fixed-route service," Ortiz said.

"Exclusive car service goes above this requirement but we do manage to offer as much as possible for the overall benefit to the service and customers."

Aside from the cost, Ortiz said many riders said they feared for their safety with some of the livery drivers and the MTA limiting the number of trips.

"We conducted undercover rides that support these claims and we therefore reduced the number of trips assigned to the livery firms," Ortiz said.

"That being said, we will continue to work with these firms to make sure they improve their service."

Malliotakis also asked the MTA to require GPS devices in all Access-A-Ride vehicles and better notify users when their rides are late. She also asked that companies increase the current five minutes the driver will wait outside homes before leaving.

"They can show up an hour late, but if you take more than five minutes to come out of your house, they take off and you can get penalized," Malliotakis said. "They need to extend that."

Ortiz said the MTA has already equipped vehicles with GPS systems and notifies users when their rides are 15 minutes away. 

Other proposed fixes in the report include taking quality of the service into consideration when the MTA issues contracts, reinstating car service trips to other boroughs and establishing a local riders advisory committee.