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Agenda Item # 11

BOARD MEMORANDUM

Background:

VTA provides Coach Operator Training updates relative to ADA regulations, sensitivity training, securement training, and customer service in order to provide quality service to customers with disabilities. 

Discussion:

Every VTA Coach Operator is required to know their responsibilities when providing services to the community.  Effective service is dependent upon a knowledgeable and well-trained work force.  Operators are informed of procedure or policy changes through memorandums, operations notices, bulletins, new and veteran operator training classes, and VTT (Verification of Transit Training) certification classes.

Some of the ways the Training Department implements and measures its effectiveness is through multi-media presentations, hands-on demonstrations, testing, and course evaluations completed by the participants.   We have selected a few of the exam questions used in ADA Training to illustrate a sampling of the information VTA Coach Operators must know in order to provide effective service to our community. 

Please see the attached exam questions.  We hope this brief exercise will give you an idea of our approach to confirm our operators understand what is expected of them.

ADA Questions

1.When is the operator required to physically assist persons with a

disability?

1. When the customer boards the coach

2. When necessary or upon request, VTA personnel shall assist persons with disabilities

3. Only after 6:00pm

4. When another customer suggests you should help

5. Never, all mobility device users want to board without assistance

2. A service animal is an animal that:

1. Can provide companionship to its owner

2. May be used to alert the owner of a ringing phone

3. Can be used to fetch items

4. Can assist a person with limited sight

5. All of the above

3. Can a customer board with a portable oxygen supply?    

1. No, batteries, gasoline, and other flammable liquids are not allowed on public buses

2. Yes, customers with disabilities are allowed to travel with respirators and /or a portable oxygen supply

3. Yes, anyone can bring anything onto VTA buses, as long as the aisles are not blocked

4. No, a customer with a portable oxygen supply must contact "Outreach " to arrange transportation

5. Only uniformed officers are allowed to ride VTA buses with portable oxygen supplies

4. Which customers are allowed to use VTA lifts or ramps?

1.  Only a customer with a disability and a valid I.D. are permitted to use the lift/ramp

2. Only customers on crutches or in wheelchairs are permitted to use the lift/ramp

3. Any customer that requests its use

4. Only seniors, customers in wheelchairs, and customers in walkers can legally use our lifts/ramps

5. Only customers in wheelchairs who are accompanied by an attendant are allowed to use the lift/ramps on our coaches

5. When must VTA provide alternative services to persons with

disabilities?

1. When regularly scheduled headways exceed more than 30 minutes before the next accessible vehicle

2. When the customer is denied boarding and the next schedule will also be unable to provide service

3. Only on Saturdays and Sundays

4. Only if the last schedule of the day has a mechanical breakdown or inoperative lift

5. Anytime the customer will have to wait more than 60 minute for the next scheduled vehicle

6. When are operators required to cycle the lift?

1. When requested to do so by the dispatcher on duty

2. The lift must be cycled prior to pullout and by every operator assigned to the coach for any part of the day

3. Only at the time you are providing service to a customer are you required to cycle the lift

4. When contacted by OCC and asked if you have a working lift

5. Maintenance is required to cycle lifts each day, therefore it is not necessary for the operator to cycle it

7. The operator should check that the ADA tool kit contains the

following items:

1. 4 tethers, mirror, road flares (2), cutting device, iodine

2. 8 tethers, cutting device, 1 dozen band-aids, spot mirror, Q-tips

3. Minimum 8 tethers, 1 or 2 Q-straint detachable devices, cutting device, mirror

4. Minimum 8 tethers 1 or 2 Q-straint detachable devices, cutting device, mirror, and hook tool

5. Maximum 8 tethers 1 or 2 Q-straint detachable devices, cutting device, mirror, hook tool, iodine, band-aids (2)

8. What are the potential consequences if ADA procedures are not

followed?

1. VTA could be subject to fines by various regulatory agencies

2. Operators could be disciplined, up to and including termination

3. VTA could lose funding and be subject to legal action

4. Answers 1 and 3

5. Answers 1,2 and 3

9. What information should the operator announce if the Annunciator becomes inoperative?

1. Announce the route number and your operator seniority at each coach stop

2. Announce the route number and destination at all multiple-route stops, as well as any stops requested by customers

3. Announce the route number and block number at all transfer points and traffic generators

4. If the coach is not equipped with an annunciator the operator is not required to announce stops

5. The operator is required to announce the route number at all coach stops

10. What procedure should the operator follow if a customer with a mobility device becomes violent or engages in illegal activity?

1. Try to avoid eye contact and ignore the situation so no one becomes embarrassed

2. Do not overreact unless other customers complain, and try to be sympathetic

3. Follow the same procedures you would with any customer

4. Call the Chaboya Training Center for instructions

5. Call a field supervisor when the customer leaves      

Reference: Federal Regulations -ADA Laws-Training Materials

37.165(f)

37.165(b) &37.3 Definitions

37.165(h)

37.165(g)

37.165(f)

37.165(c)

Section 12 pg.9

Section 12 pg. 13

37.165(b)

37.5 Non-Discrimination

Answers:         

1. (2)

2. (5)

3. (2)

4. (3)

5. (1)

6. (2)

7. (4)

8. (5)

9. (2)

10. (3).

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