Americans With Disabilities Act
Paratransit Plan
Annual Update

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The following significant changes have occurred since the 1995 Plan submission:

1. Fixed-Route Accessibility

All buses in the SamTrans fleet are now lift-equipped. No major route changes were made during the past year affecting the paratransit service area. The District is studying bus stops in an effort to make additional key stops accessible.

SamTrans has begun a travel training program which will enable people with some physical disabilities to use fixed-route service. SamTrans will recruit potential candidates through the Redi-Wheels eligibility application process and presentations at senior centers and at agencies that serve people with disabilities. The District mailed a flyer to all Redi-Wheels registrants which informed them of the availability of travel training. Although SamTrans does not provide travel training for people who are blind or developmentally disabled, the District wants to work closely with those agencies that provide travel training for these individuals so that the training is as effective as possible.

2. Changes to Paratransit Service Provision

Redi-Wheels ridership increased significantly. Therefore, Redi-Wheels service hours were extended from 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - midnight seven days a week in January 1995.

3. Survey of Paratransit Users

SamTrans surveyed some 60 passengers a month from February through July 1995. Respondents were asked their general impressions of Redi-Wheels service quality, as well as a number of questions about specific aspects of service. On the general assessment, 88% of respondents consistently rated Redi-Wheels Good or Excellent.

4. Eligibility Procedures

Over the past four years, the District has been working with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the transit districts in the San Francisco Bay Area to refine its ADA application and eligibility process.

In September 1993, Sam Trans introduced the new regional application process based on ADA paratransit eligibility criteria. The application has been further refined (see Appendices G and H). The emphasis is on applicant's self-certification but also provides for medical certification if needed.

 In 1995 SamTrans mailed ADA applications to 3,500 Redi-Wheels registrants who needed to be recertified. Of those, 3,000 responded, about 50 were determined ineligible, and the remainder were all recertified.

The District adopted as policy the appeals process outlined in Appendix H. Although SamTrans has denied a number of applications that did not meet ADA eligibility criteria, no formal appeals have been made.

SamTrans began to use MTC's regional database in January 1995 to schedule inter-county trips at the regional level. The MTC regional visitors policy is included in Appendix H. SamTrans asks visitors for information on the category of eligibility that their home region has granted them. This helps SamTrans to certify if visitors are eligible for paratransit service in San Mateo County, where fixed-route service is fully accessible.

5. Service Delivery and Operating Cost Study

SamTrans will conduct a study in January 1996 to evaluate the most cost-effective method of delivering Redi-Wheels service. In the face of rising operating costs and limited District resources, the study also will investigate opportunities for increasing the share of costs contributed by customers.

A shortage of Redi-Wheels vehicles in 1992 caused the District to enter into supplemental service contracts with a taxi and lift-van provider. The additional providers have enabled SamTrans to double the number of riders that can be carried by the Redi-Wheels bus fleet alone. However, the supplemental concept has not been without problems. Some service providers have had difficulty meeting service quality standards; supplemental lift-van service has been costly; and the multi-layered structure of contractor oversight and management has hampered the District's ability to exert quality control. The study will recommend a plan for delivering and managing Redi-Wheels service that addresses these issues, including methods of retaining and managing contract service providers.

The Redi-Wheels fare increased from $0.85 to $1.00 in January 1995, in parallel with the fixed-route base fare. Despite the fare increase, farebox recovery is still only in the 5-6 percent range. In July, the Board adopted ten percent as a farebox recovery standard for Redi-Wheels, not to exceed limits established by the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA allows paratransit fares to be set at twice the level of the fixed-route service base fare.

Fares Redi-Wheels charges to agencies that receive subscription transportation service were set in 1989. The Board declined to act on a staff recommendation in 1992 to increase fares for agency group trips to reflect the increased cost of providing Redi-Wheels service. Operating costs have continued to increase since 1992, and SamTrans is faced with increasing demand for subscription service by agencies and individuals at the same time that dramatic growth is occurring in individual reservations. The study will recommend fare levels that reflect the level of service provided and the resources available to the District in the context of achieving ADA compliance,

One objective of the study will be to develop a strategy for achieving a farebox recovery rate of 10 percent. A second objective will be to evaluate fares for subscription service to determine if they properly reflect the level and quality of service Redi-Wheels provides. Part of this task is to evaluate the relationship with agencies that receive group trips to determine if there are cost-sharing opportunities for the subscription service provided.

6. Redi-Wheels - Coastside Opportunity Center Service Coordination

During 1995, staff from SamTrans and the COC discussed potential service improvements for people with disabilities living on the bayside of the county who want to travel to the rural coastside. With input from consumers on the bayside and the coastside, staff will establish a transfer site and plans to begin coordinated service by the first quarter of calendar year 1996.

7. Intercounty Service Coordination

A. San Francisco County

The District has provided intercounty paratransit service into San Francisco since 1987 but only for residents of the six cities in northern San Mateo County and only for the purpose of medical trips. In 1992, discussions began on expanding this service to include all types of trips and to serve all intercounty trips for both San Mateo County and San Francisco residents. An initial startup date was established but postponed because the District was not comfortable with cost implications of the operating strategy being discussed. A second startup date was postponed in 1994 because the District was engaged in financial capacity analysis, and resource projections had not been completed.

In October, SamTrans shifted the focus of intercounty service planning to account for the possibility that changes to fixed-route service into San Francisco may eliminate the need for some paratransit service. SamTrans now plans a two-phase project to implement intercounty service with San Francisco. In early 1996, Redi-Wheels will begin to serve Stonestown and its environs in San Francisco, which is part of SamTrans's fixed-route service area. By summer 1996 Redi-Wheels will begin a transfer arrangement with Muni's paratransit service to serve all trips between the two counties. Much of the groundwork for such an arrangement has already been done in meetings between SamTrans and Muni staffs and their respective Paratransit Coordinating Councils. The Daly City BART station has been identified as a possible transfer site.

B. Santa Clara County

The District has been making progress toward a July 1996 startup of intercounty paratransit service with Santa Clara County. The District will continue to provide RediWheels trips as far as Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto, the limit of its obligation under ADA guidelines. In addition, two sites will be served that are beyond this boundary: the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Peninsula Center for the Blind, both of which are in Palo Alto. The District's policy is that Redi-Wheels will serve an agency in the City of Palo Alto beyond its service area boundary if that agency provides a service that is not available within San Mateo County. Other trips into Santa Clara County will require customers to transfer. SamTrans is working with community groups to select a suitable transfer facility that accommodates the needs of both customers and operators. The Menlo Park CalTrain station has been identified as a possible transfer site.

8. Subscription Service

A subscription trip is a standing order for a trip that an individual takes at the same time of the day each week to the same destination. There are two types of subscription trips: agency and individual. In either case, once the customer is given a standing order, they do not need to call in to reserve each trip. The only time they need to call is to cancel one of their standing order trips. Subscription service benefits Redi-Wheels operations by reducing reservation calls, thereby freeing telephone time for individual reservations. Also, "same-day, same-way" service reduces stress for frail agency clients and reduces complaints.

SamTrans has worked to limit the number of agency subscription trips during the last three years to allow for an expansion of individual reservation trips. In 1993, SamTrans introduced individual subscription trips and has seen a steady increase in this type of trip. However, agency subscription trips also have grown, primarily because grouping trips on a standing order basis is the most efficient way to operate demand-response service.

Despite the practical advantages of subscription service, agency subscriptions have placed a significant burden on SamTrans resources due to the fact that they are concentrated at particular hours of the day, for example 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. This limits the time slots in which to schedule individual reservation trips. The Service Delivery and Operating Cost Study will address this issue by recommending alternative ways in which agency service can be provided at a lower cost to SamTrans, both in terms of vehicle commitment and net operating cost.

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