GREATER HARTFORD TRANSIT DISTRICT
ADA PARTICIPATION GROUP FORUM
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Attendees: Yvonne Loteczka, Janet Wallans, Michael Carrier, Antonita Dunbar, Pat Williams-GHTD, DJ Gonzalez-GHTD, Kathy Shea-GHTD, Manny Gonzalez-First Transit, Vicki Shotland-GHTD, Silvana Vardhami-GHTD, Karyn Bennett-First Transit, Michael Guerrera-Connecticut Department of Transportation, Rick Gray-Connecticut Department of Transportation.

The forum began at 5:00 pm.

Noted below are the statistics for May and June

Operations:
Total passenger trips for the month of May were 23,144, No Shows 702 (3%), cancellations 6,209 (27%)  June passengers trips were 23,521, No shows 764 (3%), cancellations 6,298 (27%) 

Assessments:
In May 120 ADA applications were received; 79 were new, 41 recertified and 112 ADA eligibilities were completed. Out of the 112 completed ADA eligibilities, 66 received a specific approval condition, 4 denied, and 42 were withdrawn. In June 131 ADA applications were received; 90 were new, 41 recertified and 110 ADA eligibilities were completed. Out of the 110 completed ADA eligibilities, 78 received a specific approval condition, 3 denied, and 29 were withdrawn. 

Customers Service:
In May 57 comments were received from passengers; 37% were compliments, 56% were driver, dispatch, reservationists and/or scheduling complaints, 5% was mechanical and/or related to safety, 2% other.  In June, 48 comments were received from passengers; 19% were compliments, 75% were driver, dispatch, reservationists and/or scheduling complaints, 4% was mechanical and/or related to safety, 2% other. 

Ms. Williams read the Rider Alert posting regarding the new call taking hours, Sunday-Saturday, 8am-5pm.  She will have some printed in Spanish. 

Mr. Manuel Gonzalez reported that he plans to meet with the wheelchair lift manufacturer (Braun) on the matter in which Ms. Loteczka brought forth at the May 20th forum regarding the bump/incline on the lift.  Ms. Loteczka informed the group that the Danbury ADA Paratransit services vehicles do not have this problem.  DJ Gonzalez will contact Danbury to see who manufactures their wheelchair lifts.

Mr. Manuel Gonzalez also investigated Ms. Wallans’ concern regarding the step down by the driver’s seat.  He said that a temporary partition could be added with the approval of GHTD.  Ms. Wallans felt that this would not be necessary.  A notice to passengers about the step down in the driver’s area will be sufficient.

Ms. Shotland shared with the group the revised GHTD door-to-door policy. She stated that all riders are entitled to door-to-door assistance under the District’s policy, however there are some clients who do not want that specific service. She said that it is imperative that a driver ask if the client would like assistance, and if the rider declines door-to-door service then that request is to be complied with.  If the driver is told that the passenger does not want door-to-door service in advance, they are still required to accompany the passenger on and off the vehicle and offer assistance for both boarding and alighting the vehicle. 

In general those passengers in attendance liked the door-to-door service, but one said that she likes having the option.

Comment: Antonita Dunbar
Ms. Dunbar praised the service and noted improvements.  However, she is concerned about scheduling.  Ms. Dunbar would like an explanation of how a driver can perform a pickup in two different directions at the same time.  In addition, why would the driver pass her drop off location to drop off another rider?

Response: Ms. Bennett and Mr. Manuel Gonzalez noted the importance of drivers utilizing the 30 minute window time frame.  A passenger can be picked up at the earlier part of the window time frame, while another passenger can be picked up at the end of the window time frame. Drivers will make a loop to pickup and drop off riders in order to perform a more efficient trip.

Comment: Yvonne Loteczka
Ms. Loteczka would like to know where the issue about the proposed fare increase stands.

Response: Rick Gray advised the group that the proposed fare hearings have been canceled.  This does not mean that there will not be a possible fare increase in the future, however; at the present time the hearings have been canceled. He also mentioned that the last fare increase was in 2005.

Comment:  Janet Wallans
Ms. Wallans is pleased with the service.  The on-time performance is great.  However, she is concerned with how unclear the bus announcements are when traveling on the fixed route public transit service.

Response: Ms. Williams will e-mail Ms. Wallans the contact person at CTTransit who will assist her with this concern.

Comment: Michael Carrier
Mr. Carrier is satisfied with the service.  He would like to see an improvement with the e-mailing reservation process.  He claims that he does not receive an adequate response to his e-mail reservations.  Mr. Carrier would like the Rider Alert notices to be e-mailed to riders.

Response: Ms. Bennett will discuss with the schedulers about promptly responding to Mr. Carrier’s e-mail request. He was informed that if he does not receive a response to his e-mail reservations he should let customer service know immediately.  GHTD agreed to post Rider Alert Notices on their website along with adding this to the update line at (860) 724-5340 and select 8.
 
The next ADA forum is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 5:00 pm at Union Station.  You must make a reservation for transportation to and from the meeting by calling 724-5340 and select #1.  All riders are required to pay the standard ADA Paratransit rate of $2.50 each way. 

As time is limited; all attendees are required to sign up to discuss issues at the forum with Pat Williams, and provide the topic for discussion at least 48-hours in advance with the last opportunity to register fifteen (15) minutes prior to the start of the forum.

Please remember that in order for everyone to have a chance to participate you need to keep your initial questions and discussions to five (5) minutes a piece so that we can accommodate all other participants. Follow-up comments should also be kept to five (5) minutes.