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Agenda Item # 8

BOARD MEMORANDUM

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

BACKGROUND:

CTA members requested staff to provide information about VTA’s Transportation Supervision program.  The CTA is interested in the Transportation Supervision program as it relates to providing transportation assistance to the elderly and passengers with disabilities when bus lifts or ramps are inoperative.

DISCUSSION:

VTA’s Transportation Supervisors perform a variety of tasks to ensure reliable and high quality bus and light rail services for all VTA customers.   Transportation Supervisors interact with bus and light rail operators focusing on adherence to service schedules and policies and responding to service problems and disruptions.   These employees are typically also the first to respond to an incident or accident when an event involves VTA personnel, property or equipment.

In accordance with ADA regulations,   Transportation Supervisors are dispatched when an elderly person or a person with a disability is unable to board a bus due to lift or ramp failure, and the following bus is more than 30 minutes away (49 CFR 37.163(f)).   The actual regulation follows:

    (f) In any case in which a vehicle is operating on a fixed route with an inoperative lift, and the headway to the next accessible vehicle on the route exceeds 30 minutes, the entity shall promptly provide alternative transportation to individuals with disabilities who are unable to use the vehicle because its lift does not work.

If VTA Transportation Supervisors are unable to provide this assistance, OCC will contact Outreach to perform the segment of the bus trip the customer was unable to make due to the lift/ramp failure.

At this time, there are a total of 18 Transportation Supervisor positions assigned to VTA’s geographic service area to assist operators and customers.   Generally, on weekdays during peak morning and afternoon hours, four Transportation Supervisors are in the field.   During non-peak hours, there is an average of three Transportation Supervisors in the field.  On weekends there are between two and four Transportation Supervisors in the field at any given time.  VTA has Transportation Supervisors in the field 24 hours per day, seven days a week.  Additionally, VTA has roving maintenance staff that assist in responding to vehicle issues that occur during operations.

During calendar year 2005, Transportation Supervisors provided 74 passenger trips.   Of these passenger trips, 29 were provided to the elderly and customers with disabilities, one was provided to a young customer in need of a SAFEPLACE, and 44 were provided to customers in general need of assistance.   Many of these general assistance trips were provided because the customer had missed the last scheduled bus or light rail trip.  Outreach was contacted on two different occasions to provide transportation services.  All passengers who requested transportation services received assistance.

Transportation Supervisors drive VTA minivans that are equipped to secure one mobility device.   During FY2006, VTA will replace three older model year Transportation Supervisor minivans with larger capacity modified vans.   These larger capacity modified vans will provide two mobility device securement locations.  Also, since 1999, all new standard buses purchased by VTA have been low floor vehicles.  These buses use ramps instead of lifts to board passengers needing boarding assistance.  The ramps can also be deployed manually if mechanized deployment does not work.  While VTA’s low floor buses are currently deployed evenly throughout our service area, we are investigating deployment of these buses to routes that have high numbers of mobility device boardings.

VTA remains committed to provide quality transportation and reliable customer assistance to all of its customers.

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