Nate Thayer

REPLACEMENT OF RIDE CONTRACTOR DEMANDED: The Boston Globe

REPLACEMENT OF RIDE CONTRACTOR DEMANDED

The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

September 30, 1988 | Maria Alvarez, Contributing Reporter and Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff

Three days after a Newton woman died in a crash involving a Ride taxi, nearly 150 people with disabilities yesterday demanded again that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority replace the contractor that runs the troubled door-to-door van service for disabled people.

"The crisis of the last two months has reached such proportion that the disabled community of Boston is saying enough is enough," said Nate Thayer, transportation coordinator for the state Office of Handicapped Affairs.

Also yesterday, the MBTA released statistics from a recent survey showing that 39 percent of Ride users are "less satisfied" with the Ride now than they were a year ago. But MBTA officials said the survey also indicated that service is improving.

The Ride has been a target of criticism since a Virginia firm, Transportation Management System Inc., took over the contract to run it in June. Several riders have been injured in crashes and falls attributed to inexperienced drivers, and the firm was fined $57,000 for poor service.

On Monday afternoon, 80-year-old Ride subscriber Bertha Kowalsky of Newton died after the Veteran's Taxi in which she was riding accelerated out of control and crashed in Brookline. Veteran's Taxi, a Newton company, is a TMSI subcontractor.

At a packed meeting at the state Transportation Building yesterday, almost 150 Ride users unanimously voted to demand that the T place the Ride in receivership and run it until a new contractor is chosen.

"This is by far the biggest meeting and the biggest vote," Thayer said.

However, Anne Bickford, MBTA deputy director of operations, said the fatal accident will not result in any immediate action. "We are not prepared to take any action that will affect the rest of the riders," she said.

T officials said no penalties will be imposed on the taxi service or TMSI because of the accident.

"Veteran's Taxi has done a good job. This is an isolated incident," said Timothy F. Gens, the T's director of development and public affairs.

Police investigating the accident said the taxi driver, Robert Moriarty, 26, who was released from the hospital Tuesday after treatment of injuries, may have had a seizure.

In the survey of 400 Ride users, conducted by Atlantic Research Co., 19 percent said they are more satisfied with the service since TMSI took it over, 21 percent said they were equally satisfied, and 22 percent said they were undecided.

However, another survey question asked users to rate their experience with the Ride, "taking everything into consideration," and 60 percent of the 400 riders called it somewhat or very satisfactory.

"Those aren't terrific numbers," said Michael Meuhe, a member of the T access advisory committee. "I'm discouraged by those numbers. It's mediocre at best."

Meuhe said he believes the results reflect the "unpredictability and wildly varying experience" of people who use the Ride.

Gens said the survey "does not suggest there are no problems" but does provide evidence of what he called continuing improvements in the service.

The survey found, for example, that 90 percent said drivers are generally or always courteous, 77 percent expressed satisfaction with the reservation system, and 90 percent said drivers usually or always drive safely.

Gens, acknowledging "persistent start-up problems" since TMSI took over, said it would be a mistake to switch again.

"Given the imposing problems that riders would encounter with any transition, it really is incumbent on us to make the service work," Gens said.

A follow-up survey involving only those who expressed negative opinions in the initial survey showed that 49 percent are growing increasingly dissatisfied. None said they are more satisfied about drivers or more satisfied that drivers are improving safety.

HANDICAPPED CRITICIZE MBTA ON VAN SERVICE FREQUENT DELAYS, FAULTY EQUIPMENT CITED

HANDICAPPED CRITICIZE MBTA ON VAN SERVICE FREQUENT DELAYS, FAULTY EQUIPMENT CITED

The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

September 16, 1988

By Joe Ferson

A group of handicapped people told a meeting of the MBTA's access advisory committee yesterday that the door-to-door service known as The Ride is unreliable and dangerous.

The Ride is operated by Transportation Management System Inc. under contract from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Promises to improve the service have not been met, one participant said. "They're making an effort, there's no question on that, but it's not enough," Ralph Steele told the panel.

Steele mentioned reports of injuries due to incompetence, and added, "Are they waiting for someone to die before they take action?"

Timothy Gens, a spokesman for the MBTA, said the service provided by Transportation Management has improved since July 1, when the Virginia company took over the service from THEM Inc. of Cambridge.

"There has been significant improvement since the transitional period, when one would expect a certain amount of confusion," Gens said.

But according to Nate Thayer, transportation director for the state Office of Handicapped Affairs, criticism has been pouring in since Transportation Management took over operation of The Ride.

"There's a serious crisis facing the 9,000 handicapped individuals who depend on The Ride -- and right now, because right now it's not working," he said.

Thayer said his office has received 1,000 complaints concerning The Ride since July 1.

Thayer noted there was "not one complaint regarding service" during the time THEM Inc., a nonprofit agency, ran the service.

"It's like a leaking ship with 70 holes in it," Thayer said of Transportation Management. "The only solution is to get a new ship, a new contractor for The Ride."

Carolyn Stack said she came to the meeting, which was attended by about 25 handicapped people, to present the case of her 80-year-old father, Arthur Conway.

"My father goes to dialysis three times a week, and we've gotten calls from hospital workers asking us to come pick him up because The Ride didn't show up," she said.

Thayer said one woman was late for a dialysis treatment and was told by her doctor upon arriving that she was in serious risk of a stroke because of the delay.

"TMSI was warned specifically about this woman," Thayer said. "Either they don't know what they're doing or they don't care."

Thomas McKenne, who works at Ferguson Industries, told the committee: "The trouble with all these meetings is, they always pass the buck -- back and forth."

McKenne said The Ride drivers are polite and try to do their job, but that there is a lack of communication from management. He said some vans have faulty lift equipment, leaving the drivers hard-pressed to do their job.

Because of delays in The Ride, McKenne added, he's been arriving late for work by an hour or more for the last three weeks.

McKenne said if delays continue, he could be docked the hour's pay, adding that he's frustrated by the company's lack of sensitivity.

"A lot of these people are making money off the handicapped," he said. "But they don't give a damn so long as they collect their big fat salaries."

McKenne said that on a recent day he was picked up late by a van that had a broken gas gauge, no brake lights and no arm rest on his seat.

"Someone could fall out of their seat real easy," he pointed out.

Lorraine Greiff, assistant director of public affairs for the Office of Handicapped Affairs, said many handicapped people who use The Ride live at the whim of the company's scheduling.

"You make plans to go somewhere and then you discover at the last minute you're not going anywhere," she said.