Dial-A-Ride's policies are inflexible and unfair. They do not accommodate reasonable needs of the disabled persons it claims to serve when emergencies or changes occur. It has yet to establish a forum for its riders to give feedback on quality of service.
And it seems to have no interest in conducting surveys to assess customer satisfaction.
Here's an example of its inflexible policies: On a recent ride costing $3.50 one way, I asked if I could give the driver who would pick me up from my home a five and two singles to pay for the roundtrip. The rep said no, adding that I must give the first driver exactly three singles and 50 cents. Even though I explained I have no means to obtain singles and quarters, the agent said, "No exact payment means no ride."
Some drivers are poorly trained; or they are incompetent. I was injured on my first ride. First, the driver failed to pull and guide me onto the lift (I was using a push, or manual, wheelchair). When the lift reached the top, the driver released my brakes without holding my wheelchair. He should have come into the bus, gotten behind me, then release the brakes, and hold on to the handles to guide me down the ramp. Instead, he remained outside. Since the lift was higher than the bus floor, I rolled backwards down the ramp, speeding across the bus floor, crashed backwards into the wall, and overturned backwards. I suffered bloody cuts to my scalp and both arms.
Another example: If an unusual circumstance prevents you from returning to the location where you were dropped off, the supervisor will not allow the driver to pick you up from another location--even if the new location is a mere 100 yards from the original drop-off location. So ..... If rain or snow prevents you from returning to the original drop-off location, you can consider yourself stranded. Dial-A-Ride seems unprepared or disinterested in providing proper reasonable care to it riders who have no other way to get home. Abandonment is unacceptable.
Another example: Dial-A-Ride does not always provide "door to door" service (though it advertises that service) and can, without notice, drop you off on another street. Recently, Dial-A-Ride dropped me off the equivalent of a block away from the address I requested. When Rain threatened, I called to explain I cannot ride my powerchair to the drop-off location and wait in rain because water would short-circuit the controller and the electric motors. The rep expressed no concern--just repeating the mantra "wait where we dropped you off." While the rain did not happen, the drop-off was adjacent to an alley where drunks hang out. I was threatened and harassed by drunken panhandlers. This Dial-A-Ride policy places us riders in harm's way.
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