Picture caption: Senior Marie Drew gets assistance from DARTS bus driver Bill Trenter to her apartment building after she got a ride from the nearby John Carroll building where she had her hair done. The Met Council plans to restructure the dial-a-ride services across the metro.
Rach's note: Dial a Ride is also called paratransit or door to door service. Not only senior citizens use that service, disabled people like myself do use this service (I am more of bus person but I do use paratransit sometimes). Metro Mobility website
Some pickups will end, others will take people to the nearest transit stop.
By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune
Last update: July 19, 2009
There may be more senior citizens hoofing it to the bus stop next year.
That's one side effect, likely an unpopular one, of plans to revamp the minibus system that shuttles seniors and other needy people across the metro area.
The Metropolitan Council launched the overhaul of the dial-a-ride network in February to standardize and stitch up holes in the patchwork system. A series of audits had revealed unfair and, in some cases, illegal practices by many of the contracted providers.
The new system would extend coverage to the entire seven-county metro area, but also remove it from places that are deemed too close to a regular bus route or light-rail line -- within a quarter-mile in the winter months of November through March, and within a half-mile the rest of the year.
And in many cases, riders accustomed to getting picked up at one address and dropped off at their destination would instead be picked up and dropped off at the nearest regular bus or light-rail line that can take them where they're going.
"It's a fundamental shift," said Mark Hoisser, president of DARTS, the nonprofit dial-a-ride provider in Dakota County.
Many agree that moving toward a uniform system with standard fares, hours of operation and defined coverage areas makes sense, but finding a solution that's palatable to everyone isn't easy.
"We looked closely at what is out there today and tried to match that to the greatest extent feasible, but standardize it," said Gerri Sutton, assistant director of contracted transit services for the Met Council.
The Met Council will consider the new operating rules on Wednesday, and if all goes according to plan, the new service will be put in place in phases starting in January.
The $4.7 million system, which grew up piecemeal as communities identified a need, provides 500,000 rides a year. But riders in some areas can call one of multiple providers, while those in other suburbs -- Shoreview, Little Canada and Arden Hills among them -- have no service at all.
Rach's note: Dial a Ride is also called paratransit or door to door service. Not only senior citizens use that service, disabled people like myself do use this service (I am more of bus person but I do use paratransit sometimes). Metro Mobility website
Some pickups will end, others will take people to the nearest transit stop.
By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune
Last update: July 19, 2009
There may be more senior citizens hoofing it to the bus stop next year.
That's one side effect, likely an unpopular one, of plans to revamp the minibus system that shuttles seniors and other needy people across the metro area.
The Metropolitan Council launched the overhaul of the dial-a-ride network in February to standardize and stitch up holes in the patchwork system. A series of audits had revealed unfair and, in some cases, illegal practices by many of the contracted providers.
The new system would extend coverage to the entire seven-county metro area, but also remove it from places that are deemed too close to a regular bus route or light-rail line -- within a quarter-mile in the winter months of November through March, and within a half-mile the rest of the year.
And in many cases, riders accustomed to getting picked up at one address and dropped off at their destination would instead be picked up and dropped off at the nearest regular bus or light-rail line that can take them where they're going.
"It's a fundamental shift," said Mark Hoisser, president of DARTS, the nonprofit dial-a-ride provider in Dakota County.
Many agree that moving toward a uniform system with standard fares, hours of operation and defined coverage areas makes sense, but finding a solution that's palatable to everyone isn't easy.
"We looked closely at what is out there today and tried to match that to the greatest extent feasible, but standardize it," said Gerri Sutton, assistant director of contracted transit services for the Met Council.
The Met Council will consider the new operating rules on Wednesday, and if all goes according to plan, the new service will be put in place in phases starting in January.
The $4.7 million system, which grew up piecemeal as communities identified a need, provides 500,000 rides a year. But riders in some areas can call one of multiple providers, while those in other suburbs -- Shoreview, Little Canada and Arden Hills among them -- have no service at all.
The new system will spread coverage to areas that lack it but also remove it from areas near regular buses or trains, which the Met Council says is necessary to remove redundancies in the transit system. But that could pose challenges for people who have counted on dial-a-ride in those areas.
Hoisser said many DARTS dial-a-ride clients are senior citizens who are unfamiliar with public transit or unsure of their physical ability to take regular buses or trains.
"We suspect some people would give up and not ride the system," he said.
More may seek certification
Both Hoisser and Sutton of the Met Council ventured that those who truly have disabilities will get certified as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to ride Metro Mobility, a separate service that delivers people door to door.
"There are some people out there today that are eligible for ADA service, but have not had a need to get that level of certification," Sutton said. "I would assume that those people will pursue that under the new [dial-a-ride] system."
To be ADA-certified, people must fill out a self-evaluation and have another filled out by a medical provider.
The committee working on the new dial-a-ride rules is also considering ways to teach wary riders how to use buses and trains, Sutton said.
Other changes to dial-a-ride service are more benign. Fares will be uniform across the metro area, but they will not vary much from those currently charged by providers. The cost each way will range from $2.25 to $6.75.
There will be one central phone number to call for reservations, and all counties will offer a minimum of weekday service from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tim Kirchoff, supervisor of transit operation and planning for Anoka County, said he's pleased with most of the plans for the new system but expects them to morph a bit more.
"We're trying to take all these oddball pieces and put them into one system," Kirchoff said.
"Once we do pull the trigger and this thing goes forward, there will certainly be some modifications."
Public hearings on fares will be held in September. The phase-in of new dial-a-ride service will start in Scott and Carver counties in January and end in Dakota County in May.
Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056
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