Posts about Disabilities

MetroAccess is saddled with a poor customer service record. At a town hall meeting this past October, MetroAccess customers complained about poor treatment by drivers and call dispatchers, poor routing, long waits for pick up and drop off, and vehicle breakdowns. On a couple of occasions, clients of Iona Senior Services' Alzheimer's Day Program were dropped off at the wrong location, and it took hours to locate them. WMATA can do better than this, and taxis could help.

MetroAccess head Christian Kent has crafted a plan to fix the quality of MetroAccess service. Instead of having one vendor bid on the whole package of services, as in the previous contract, the RFP lets vendors bid separately to run the call center, the fleet services, and quality assurance.

Most jurisdictions of similar size do the same. Experts I spoke to feel that this is the best approach, especially having a different vendor handle quality assurance from the one(s) actually running the service.

But one piece of the plan does not make sense: decreasing taxi use from 20%, as specified in the old contract, to only 5%.

Research (cited at bottom) is clear that taxi paratransit services can be less costly than standard ADA paratransit:

• In 2005, Arlington County's taxi paratransit cost $20.50 per trip, versus $35 for WMATA.
  
• San Francisco's taxi paratransit costs $15-$18, versus $40 for Muni paratransit.
  
• Houston's ADA taxi service per hour is $32.10, versus $42.65 for paratransit van service.
  
• 50% of jurisdictions surveyed reported taxis saved money for transit agencies.

Beyond cost savings, there are other advantages. The taxi system has more flexibility. Taxis are there when you need them, can handle a trip without needing to know the day ahead of time, often come quickly, and force riders to wait less. They provide a safety net for peak service times, and fill in gaps in coverage. And customers like the direct, exclusive ride.

There are also challenges with using taxis. Some try to defraud the transit service. It's hard to monitor it, and drivers don't have as much training as the van services. Christian Kent cites these as reasons to decrease the amount of taxi use in the system.

Nevertheless, Arlington paratransit manager Steve Yaffe makes a strong case for taxi use. His system uses taxis to provide 50% of its paratransit service. He has demonstrated that the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages.

Yaffe said,

I recognize the difficulty in finding taxi vendors with sufficient internal controls and oversight over training, maintenance and accounting. Another difficulty with using taxis for this type of service is the dearth of jurisdictional reciprocity privileges for taxis being used to transport people with disabilities. However, new business models are being developed and have been implemented elsewhere to get around these obstacles and provide the necessary level of accountability and service oversight. The Metro Access RFP should not preclude the flexibility to increase future levels of taxi participation.

DC disability advocates testified at a January hearing on taxi service, chaired by Councilmember Mary Cheh (Ward 3), about the importance of providing more wheelchair-accessible taxis and drivers with training to serve those with disabilities. When I talked to Cheh about the possibility of the MetroAccess RFP reducing the use of taxis, she acknowledged that this appears to move in the wrong direction.

Instead of defining a percentage of taxi use for the system, WMATA should include specific quality standards for taxis. This will give all the jurisdictions the flexibility to improve quality, so that taxis can provide services for Metro Access users. This could lead to lower costs and better quality. 22 senior service providers in the District signed off on this recommendation. We hope Christian Kent listens.

Research citations:
Arndt, J. & Cherrington, L. (2007). The Role of Private-For-Hire Vehicles In Transit In Texas. Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
Burkhardt, J. (2010). Potential Cost Savings from taxi paratransit programs. Institute of Transport Studies (Monash). Social Research in Transport Clearinghouse.
Burkhardt, J., Doherty, J., Rubino, J., Westat, & Yum, J. (2008). A Survey On The Use of Taxis in Paratransit Programs. Easter Seals Project Action. Retrieved from www.projectaction.org
Chapman, Koffman, Pfeiffer, & Weiner (2010). Funding the Public Transportation Needs of an Aging Population. American Public Transportation Association.

This new judicial center is exactly the type of project that should not require additional parking. The courthouse is located at Rockville Town Center, blocks away from the Rockville Metro and MARC commuter train. In addition, over a dozen bus lines serve the area. Court employees and visitors who decide to drive may park in any of the public garages and lots located within blocks of the building.

However, despite the many transportation options in the area, a recent Examiner article claims that the courthouse could be "nearly impossible to reach" for an individual who uses a wheelchair. Montgomery County resident Brigette Woods claims that the "hilly surroundings" would make it too difficult to reach the courthouse and is considering filing suit against the county and state for failing to provide on-site parking.

Even though Montgomery County made the right decision in keeping the courthouse in Rockville Town Center, planners should sympathize with people like Ms. Woods. Greater Greater Washington has often noted both the many benefits and drawbacks of public transportation for disabled patrons.

While it is unlikely that Rockville's "hilly" terrain is too difficult to navigate, there are many people with canes, crutches, or heart conditions who have difficulty walking even a few blocks, especially in extreme heat or snow. For these people, taking transit may simply not be an option, which leaves them to rely on their private vehicles or expensive MetroAccess service.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that spaces be reserved for persons with disabilities only if a building offers parking. In this case, no additional disability spaces are legally necessary, but some spaces should still be made available. That might not require building new spaces, but instead designating some on-street spaces or ones in a nearby garage.

In the area around the Rockville courthouse and similar places such as Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, there is plenty of parking closest to the courthouse. It just happens to be reserved almost exclusively for police cars or other permitted vehicles. I am willing to bet that many people simply use those nearby spaces as free parking while persons with disabilities are forced to park farther way.

Of course, some people who don't have disabilities have been known to abuse parking placards, and parking enforcement should be vigilant to protect against this.

In areas where nearby spaces are at a premium, converting some of the closest on-street or reserved parking to metered disability spaces might go a long way to addressing the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Finding a lift: One of the first obstacles faced by wheelchair-bound riders is finding the elevator entrance into the system. Unlike the more common escalator shafts, elevators are often unaccompanied by the distinctive M-capped pylon, and are sometimes located blocks away from the main entrance.

Additionally, most stations have an elevator at only one mezzanine, when there are multiple entrances. Dupont Circle, for example, has 2 entrances. The south entrance empties onto 19th Street south of the Circle. The North entrance ejects riders onto the corner of 20th & Q Streets. Riders needing an elevator can only use the north entrance.

At Union Station, where Deena first encountered Metro, the south entrance, at Columbus Circle (and also from the Union Station Food Court), is elevator-less. The elevator is located at the north entrance, from the Amtrak concourse and First Street.

The people Deena asked for assistance didn't know that there was no elevator from the south mezzanine. They did not know to direct her to the north entrance, and as a result, she got stranded. Metro should take steps to put signage at all non-accessible entrances directing riders to the nearest elevator. At Union Station, that might look something like this:

No Accessible Entrance:
Riders needing an elevator should use the north entrance to the station, located near First and G Streets NE or from the Amtrak concourse near the Post Office. Distance to north entrance is approximately 500 feet.

Alphabet soup: Using elevators in the system generally means encountering a mix of buttons labeled with one or two seemingly random letters. I'm pretty sure I recall a station where the platform elevator ran from T to E and the street elevator ran from M to E. In one case, the E clearly stands for exit. In the other case, the E stands for "mezzanine". T stands for train, by the way, although that's sometimes "P" for platform. And E is variously S for street.

These randomly applied letters don't benefit users of the system who are not familiar with it, especially those who don't speak English. And while many of Metro's elevators only have two stops—the one you're at and the other one—some stations present riders with a choice.

Take Fort Totten, for instance. A rider entering the station through the mezzanine gets on the elevator and sees "UL", "M", and "LL". No signs inside or outside the elevator even hint about which lines are on which level. So unless you know the Red Line is above the mezzanine, you don't know which button to press.

Metro could easily add some small labels next to the buttons to clarify which button takes you to which line.

Dead ends and serial elevators: Another issue that riders face comes up at the downtown transfer stations. Those stations were designed without elevators in mind, so they were shoehorned into the stations before construction was complete. That often means riders have to take multiple elevators to navigate the system.

Let's take L'Enfant Plaza, for example. The only elevator access to the street is from the Maryland Avenue entrance. That elevator takes riders to the north mezzanine. From there, they have a choice of elevators, one down to the Greenbelt/Fort Totten platform or one down to the Branch Avenue/Huntington platform. So far, so good. At almost all stations, riders have to use at least 2 elevators to access the platform—one between street and mezzanine and one between mezzanine and platform.

But to access the Blue or Orange lines, riders have to transit the Branch Avenue/Huntington Platform. There is no elevator access between the Greenbelt/Fort Totten plaform and the Blue/Orange lines. And that means that riders changing from a Vienna-bound train to a Greenbelt-bound train have to use 3 elevators to make the transfer. Signage here is pretty clear, though the actual path that riders have to take is onerous.

At Gallery Place, on the other hand, signage leaves a bit to be desired. The situation here is different. From the street, elevators take riders directly to their own fare control area on the Glenmont platform. If riders are coming from or going to Glenmont-bound trains, that's pretty convenient.

To get to the Green or Yellow Lines, a second elevator trip is required. To get to Shady Grove-bound trains, riders have to navigate the Green/Yellow platform and board a third elevator. This elevator goes up, but is a dead-end for riders bound for an exit, as it only goes to the Shady Grove platform.

Yet, signage seems to indicate otherwise.

The elevator pictured above (#4) goes from the Green/Yellow line platform up to the Shady Grove platform. There is no accessible exit from the station via this elevator. A sign next to the call button says "elevator for [red dot] line to Shady Grove." But hanging from the ceiling is a sign that boldly proclaims with a wheelchair icon, "Exit to Arena, Galleries. [Red dot] all trains."

What the sign means is that both elevators are down the platform in that direction. But at that location, the sign seems to indicate that elevator #4 will take riders to all those places. In cases like this, Metro should put bold signage on the elevator, perhaps on the elevator doors themselves, that indicates precisely where the elevator goes and that it does not lead to an exit.

Metro GM Richard Sarles responded to Deena's letter, telling her that Metro was working to improve the reliability of elevators and making the system more accessible. And, according to Ms. Larsen, Metro officials actually went out with her to visit some sites in the system. It's great to hear that WMATA management are interested in raising the bar for elevator access.

But running an accessible transit system is about more than just keeping the elevators in working order. It's also about ensuring that riders can find them and know where to go once they get on board.

Though the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed two decades ago, taxi cabs were largely exempt from the legislation that required everything from subways to movie theaters to provide a minimum level of accessibility accommodation. While all taxi companies must accommodate those passengers with disabilities who are able to use a regular taxi, including allowing services animals, and requiring drivers to stow mobility devices like walkers and foldable wheelchairs for a customer, the ADA does not require any special accessibility features for all "sedan-type" vehicles.

In 1990, this may have made a significant impact, as the number of people with disabilities using standard, manual wheelchairs was relatively large. Over the past 20 years though, advances in various technologies have increased the availability and usability of powered wheelchairs, which, while improving mobility and independence of the people that use them, have ironically made taxi service less accessible.

As the ADA was written, taxi companies are not required to modify their vehicles to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs until the companies purchased or leased a van or an SUV for its fleet. Once a taxi operator's fleet included at least one non-sedan vehicle, though, ADA requirements for full wheelchair accessibility kick in.

Unfortunately, this has provided a strong disincentive in many places for taxi companies to have any cabs that aren't sedans, which has been the case in DC. This is where the New Freedom program helps. Under this FTA program, states and metro regions receive a designated amount of money each year to provide transportation service or accommodations "above and beyond" what the ADA requires.

Because the economics of the DC taxi market had not made having large minivan or SUV cabs financially attractive enough to also comply with ADA requirements for fully accessible services, MWCOG designated a portion of the Washington region's New Freedom money to start the rollDC program.

Under rollDC, MWCOG purchased the modified Sienna vans and solicited two private cab companies, Yellow Cab of DC and Royal Cab, to own and maintain the vehicles. Because loading and unloading a passenger in a wheelchair takes longer than other passenger pick-ups, rollDC will also pay drivers an additional $2 per trip provided to customers in wheelchairs.

This new program has the potential to provide significant, two-fold impact on DC's transportation system. First, it will greatly increase the flexibility and mobility option of the city's residents and visitors who use wheelchairs. This is by far the most important outcome.

Less crucial to the human impact, but intriguing given Metro and DC's current budget crises, rollDC increases the ability of MetroAccess to provide ADA complementary paratransit through contracts with private taxi providers instead of through its costly, standard scheduled service.

Many paratransit providers, inlucluding MetroAccess, already use taxis to provide some service, but frequently this is limited to ambulatory customers who have other types of disabilities. With the introduction of accessible taxi cabs, MetroAccess now has the option to provide rides for nearly any eligible customer through taxi service, either through a voucher program, or through direct contract.

A typical MetroAccess trip with raised-roof or cut-away van costs Metro around $40. Many trips within DC and its immediate surroundings could be easily provided by taxi for a cost savings per trip. Additionally, by instituting a voucher program, MetroAccess could potentially give customers more flexibility than the current 24-hour advance scheduling rules allow.

With only 20 vans on the street, the ability for MetroAccess to realize significant savings through taxi-provided paratransit is still relatively low, but ridership numbers from the test phase run over the last year, indicate that there will likely be demand for more vehicles. In March of this year the vans on the street provided 349 trips.

These new cabs don't benefit people with disabilities alone. The presence of more large cabs increases the viability of group rides, as well as the ability to live in the city without a car, by making it easier to make shopping trips with bulky items. rollDC will improve mobility options for thousands of DC residents and visitors, disabilities or not. And that is an unequivocally good thing.

Meanwhile, during the Cherry Blossom festival in particular, Metro had technicians available to immediately assist with escalator and elevator issues at the Smithsonian, L'Enfant Plaza, Waterfront, Arlington Cemetery, Capitol South and Metro Center Metrorail stations. I have shared your concerns with Rail Operations management to learn exactly what transpired at Union Station and to determine how we can improve going forward—including making elevator wayfinding signage more visible.

Metro is considered one of the most accessible systems in the country, and every Metro station has an elevator—there are no stations that require the use of steps prior to accessing an elevator. We have posted the locations of our elevators with the accessibility symbol on our Station Name signs about every 20 feet on platform walls and pylons. Also, for your future use, we have posted to the outside of every elevator a sign that provides the 24 hour elevator outage number, 202-962-1212 and 202-962-1825, which is the number to call for a shuttle if the elevator is out of service.

While our elevator reliability has been fairly good—generally over 95% of elevators are available each month—I also want to make sure you are aware of the tools we have when planning any future trips with us, including information regarding elevator outages. If you call 202-962-1100, we have people who are available to assist visitors with disabilities in advance of your trip. Also, you will soon see improvements on our website with better real-time information about elevators that are out of service for maintenance or repair.

I realize this information doesn't change the experience you had. But know that we are working to improve, and that our executives do travel through the system periodically with members of our Accessibility Advisory Committee so that we can see the system through the eyes of others.

Sincerely,

Richard R. Sarles
General Manager
and Chief Executive Officer

---

Dear Mr. Sarles,

I do appreciate your attention to accessibility issues. I would like to point out a few things in response to your letter and suggest some easy fixes to help disabled tourists.

1) While each station may have at least one accessible entrance, there are many station entrances that do require steps. Once you navigate these steps, you will find that the turnstiles do not accommodate wheelchairs (or strollers or ...). Then you have to undo all of that and try another entrance—which may have steps lurking half way down the corridor. ALL of these non-accessible entrances should have signs saying "This is NOT the accessible entrance. The accessible entrance is (on the west side, one block up... etc.) Please also inform police staff, maintenance staff, and others about these entrances--a nice brochure/map would be lovely. I was directed down two non-accessible entrances by police men and by metro staff at the Union Station.

2) While you may well have staff stationed for breakdowns, there was no signage whatsoever on the Smithsonian exit elevator (from the blue line/metro station side). There was only a yellow gate. I spent 5 minutes just figuring out that it was broken and not some fancy way of doing the pass through the turnstile. This station in particular has its elevator far far away from staff—in a dark corner on the far side of the track. Please instruct ALL metro staff that if there is an outage (even to clean up for a moment) to put up a sign:

"This is out of order. The nearest elevator is at __ station. Please call 202-962-1212 and 202-962-1825 for assistance." You could print up a stack of these things and keep them in the stationmaster's office.

This sign was NOT available at the Smithsonian elevator. To be fair, that was the only place that I searched in desperation for a number. And it may be on the elevator itself--but I could not get through the turnstile to get to the elevator. So, please, recheck to make sure that these signs are at:

• Each turnstile/entrance to each elevator
  
• Each elevator
  
• Each restroom.

3) I may have been extremely unlucky, but there were no technicians available at the Smithsonian entrance between 4:35 and 5:20 pm on Monday April 4th. I also don't think the technicians were available earlier, because when the policeman and metro staff finally rescued me and got me and my wheelchair up the escalator, they spoke about having to do the same thing about 2 hours earlier. So, please check this availability. Again, I understand breakdowns. But not having a SIGN about the breakdown and an explanation of where to go is absolutely inexcusable!

4) "We have posted the locations of our elevators with the accessibility symbol on our Station Name signs about every 20 feet on platform walls and pylons." I was looking. I did not see one of these. However, I am in a wheelchair and therefore I am 3 feet tall. Could you make them larger? or eye level with a wheelchair? Or provide a printable brochure? Or have brochures available to give out to tourists? (If this is a cost issue, I am sure we can do some fundraising!) I will be in DC again May 13th and I will be happy to retrace my steps with someone.

5) I did go to your website—and my impression was that if I were a DC resident, call this number, prove I am handicapped, go through more bureaucracy, and I might be able to get an accessible ride. In no way did I see that I as a tourist could also get help or directions or even a map. On your website, on the front page, please put a new section: Accessibility for tourists. In this section, put links to maps, phone numbers, etc. As taxis in DC charge $20 per ride for people in wheelchairs, the metro makes sense for a lot of handicapped tourists—who need this information.

Thank you,
Deena Larsen

At the Smithsonian Station, the only elevator I could find was blocked—no explanation, no phone number, nothing. I pressed a call button, but no one came down. Finally, as I was crying in frustration, a nice couple located a guard, who explained that there had been a fire. He got my wheelchair and me up the escalator.

Unfortunately, this trip is typical of the problems faced by people who use wheelchairs and want to travel by Metro.

At Dupont Circle's south entrance, for instance, there are no directions from the escalators to the nearest elevator, 2 blocks away. At L'Enfant, getting from the Blue/Orange platform to the Green/Yellow platform or the street requires 3 elevator rides. At Fort Totten, the elevator is broken, so Metro runs shuttles from two stations, lengthening the trip time for riders who need the elevator.

It took a court order for Metro to routinely include elevators in the station design, and the elevators in the retrofitted stations are not necessarily conveniently located.

And when the elevators break, they often stay broken for a long time. The same is true for the escalators, of course, but at least a broken escalator can still be used as stairs by people who are able to climb stairs. A broken elevator, on the other hand, takes you nowhere.

Metro is fixing some of the problems. All of the stations opened in 2004 or later have (or will have) redundant elevators (2 elevators for each necessary ascent). Rosslyn station is currently getting a bank of mezzanine-to-street elevators. And plans are underway for redundant elevators (and new escalators) at Union Station.

But there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Ms. Larsen concludes her letter,

I would be very grateful if just one Metro executive went through the system in a wheelchair. Just once. That is all it would take.

How about it, Metro executives? Any volunteers?

The last storyteller was Jessica Keller, Director of Service Development at MTA. She talks about how she adjusted to the new commute that came along with her new job.

Washington-area residents also have stories to tell. What is the most memorable transportation tale you have about getting around our region?

Vacate priority seating and securement locations when they are needed
Every train and bus has a priority seating area. Every bus also has mobility device securement locations. Many times on both the train and the bus, I have witnessed a person who obviously needed a seat boarding while people who did not appear to need priority seating failed to vacate priority seating.

On the bus, the bus operator is required under the ADA to ask the passenger(s) to vacate the priority seating or securement location when it is needed for a person with a disability or older adult. But, the bus operator is not required to force anyone to move. Some people have hidden disabilities that might necessitate the use of priority seating.

On the train, we do not have a train operator in every car to observe each person boarding and disembarking or to monitor priority seating. On the train, it is truly up to us as passengers to do the right thing and to offer our seat when our seat is needed.

I have asked people to vacate the priority seating locations on the train for an older adult, a person with a cane, etc. Since I usually get on the train when all seats are taken, I typically have no seat to offer. So I say something as simple as: "Hey. Can someone offer a seat to this lady/this gentleman?" Someone steps up, but only after being asked.

Of course, some people with disabilities ask for a seat themselves. They may be accustomed to asking for a seat, but they really should not need to ask. I have also observed that many older adults and some people with disabilities are hesitant or, perhaps, even unable to ask.

We all need to be more attentive, step up, and offer our seats when they are needed by people with disabilities or older adults. A number of years ago, CTA in Chicago had an ad campaign: Stand Up for People with Disabilities. Perhaps we should have a similar campaign here in DC.

Recognize customers with disabilities' right to travel with a service animal
Some customers with disabilities travel with service animals. This is also a right protected under the ADA. Service animals are not pets; they are animals trained to perform specific tasks. The most common service animal is a dog, but there are other types of service animals.

Many transit customers do not know how to behave around service animals. I have seen people on the train attempting to pet, talk to, and/or make direct eye contact with service dogs.

We should always assume that the service animal is working. It is never acceptable to touch, talk to, or to feed a service animal without the owner's permission. In fact, doing so could distract the service animal from the task at hand or even undo some of the training the service animal has received.

Intentionally distracting a service animal can actually be dangerous to its owner. So, in addition to recognizing the right of people with disabilities to travel with service animals, it is equally important to behave appropriately around them. Of course, people with disabilities who travel with service animals have the responsibility to keep their service animals under control.

Work collaboratively to address barriers in our communities
For transit to be truly accessible, the path of travel to and from the transit stop or station must be accessible. Many (if not everyone) in this blog's readership appreciate the importance of good planning and good, safe pedestrian connectivity to transit. But, are we engaging people with disabilities in our discussions?

I believe we need to do more to engage people with disabilities in both our discussions and planning processes if we want to make the pedestrian circulation network accessible to all transit customers, including customers with disabilities.

Of course, not all transit riders are formally engaged in transportation planning or advocacy efforts related to transportation. However, many people are involved in some way in their communities, whether it be through a Home Owners' Association (HOA), Community Association, Parent Teacher Association, etc. Each of these groups from time to time weighs in regarding specific unsafe street crossings, motor vehicles speeding through neighborhoods or in school zones, incomplete sidewalks or sidewalks in need of repair, nearby zoning/land use decisions, etc. And every community has residents who are older adults or people with disabilities who can and should be reached out to and included in these important community discussions.

Work collaboratively to promote transit
I enjoy working with transit advocates from many different backgrounds and perspectives. Some come from a planning perspective embracing new urbanism. Others come from an environmental perspective embracing strategies that reduce carbon emissions. Others are motivated by the goal of transportation equity. And others are concerned with a specific group that relies on transit for mobility (i.e., people with disabilities, older adults, people with low incomes).

Transit is an accessible and affordable transportation option. When proponents of new urbanism, environmentalism, or transportation equity promote adequately funding transit, increasing pedestrian access to transit, and/or making our communities more walkable, they simultaneously promote an accessible and affordable transportation option.

There are opportunities to work together across our interest areas to promote transit, but we often fail to recognize and seize these opportunities. We need to talk more with each other, learn more about one another's perspectives, and advocate together when we find common interests. I can say from experience that the dialogue will be awkward at first, but definitely worthwhile.

Note: Some ideas in this post are addressed in Easter Seals Project ACTION's Getting There Together: Supporting Accessible Sustainable Transportation in Your Community.