Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) Allentown, Pennsylvania April 27-30, 2009 ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Summary of Observations Prepared for Federal Transit Administration Office of Civil Rights Washington, DC Prepared by Planners Collaborative, Inc. with TranSystems Corporation Final Report: April 3, 2012 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report CONTENTS 1 Purpose of the Review ................................................................................................................... 1 2 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Pre-Review ............................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 On-Site Review ...................................................................................................................................... 4 3 Background ...................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Description of ADA Complementary Paratransit Service .......................................................... 8 3.2 ADA Complementary Paratransit Performance Policies and Standards ............................... 9 3.3 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 11 4 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................. 14 4.1 ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Criteria and Complaint Handling Process ... 14 4.2 ADA Complementary Paratransit Eligibility ............................................................................. 14 4.3 Telephone Access ............................................................................................................................... 17 4.4 Trip Reservations and Scheduling ................................................................................................ 18 4.5 Service Performance ......................................................................................................................... 19 4.6 Resources ............................................................................................................................................. 20 5 ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Criteria ............................................................. 21 5.1 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 21 5.2 LANTA Complaint Handling Process .......................................................................................... 21 5.3 Type of Service ................................................................................................................................... 22 5.4 Service Area ........................................................................................................................................ 23 5.5 Days and Hours of Service .............................................................................................................. 23 5.6 Fares ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 5.7 Response Time .................................................................................................................................... 24 5.8 Trip Purpose ....................................................................................................................................... 25 5.9 Coordination with Adjoining Service Providers ........................................................................ 25 5.10 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 26 5.11 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 26 6 ADA Complementary Paratransit Eligibility ........................................................................ 28 6.1 Eligibility Determination Procedures and Practices ................................................................. 28 6.2 Observations ....................................................................................................................................... 36 6.3 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 45 6.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 48 7 Telephone Access .......................................................................................................................... 51 7.1 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 51 7.2 Service Standards .............................................................................................................................. 51 7.3 Phone System Design and Staffing ................................................................................................ 51 7.4 Telephone Performance ................................................................................................................... 53 7.5 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 55 7.6 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 56 8 Reservations ................................................................................................................................... 57 8.1 Trip Reservations Process ............................................................................................................... 57 8.2 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 57 8.3 LANTA’s ADA Policies and Procedures ................................................................................... 59 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report 8.4 Review of Recorded Trip Denials .................................................................................................. 61 8.5 Observations of the Handling of Trip Requests ......................................................................... 62 8.6 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 66 8.7 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 67 9 Service Performance .................................................................................................................... 68 9.1 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 68 9.2 Service Standards and Policies ....................................................................................................... 69 9.3 Daily Operations ................................................................................................................................ 72 9.4 Vehicle Driver Interviews ................................................................................................................ 75 9.5 On-Time Performance ...................................................................................................................... 76 9.6 Analysis of On-Board Travel Times ............................................................................................. 85 9.7 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 90 9.8 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 91 10 Resources .................................................................................................................................... 93 10.1 Customer Comments ........................................................................................................................ 93 10.2 Driver Interviews ............................................................................................................................... 93 10.3 Vehicle Fleet and Vehicle Availability .......................................................................................... 93 10.4 Staffing and Training ....................................................................................................................... 94 10.5 Planning, Budgeting, and Funding ................................................................................................ 94 10.6 Ridership ............................................................................................................................................. 96 10.7 Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 98 10.8 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 98 FIGURES Figure 3.1 – LANTA’s ADA service area ...................................................................................... 7 Figure 7.1 – Calls per 15-minute period, week of March 30, 2009 .............................................. 55 Figure 8.1 – Distribution of reservations by number of days in advance of requested trip .......... 64 TABLES Table 3.1 – Metro Plus Complaints: January 1, 2009 through April 28, 2009 ............................. 13 Table 6.1 – Metro Plus Trip Eligibility/Funding Matrix .............................................................. 30 Table 6.3 – Time to Notification for 33 Randomly Selected ADA Paratransit Determinations Made January to April 2009 ......................................................................................................... 40 Table 7.1 – Calls with Long Waits for Three Sample Weeks in February, March, and April 2009 ....................................................................................................................................................... 54 Table 9.1 – Metro Plus Runs ......................................................................................................... 72 Table 9.2 – Preliminary Analysis of On-Time Pickup Performance for Three Data Groupings .. 77 Table 9.4 – Metro Plus ADA Pickups, January-March 2009 ....................................................... 79 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report Table 9.5 – Metro Plus ADA Drop-Offs, January-March 2009 ................................................... 79 Table 9.7 – ADA Trips, March 2009, “Return” Trip Pickups ...................................................... 81 Table 9.8 – ECC Analysis of Sample of Apparently Late Trips and FTA Response ................... 85 Table 9.9 – Adjustment to On-Time Performance Based on ECC Analysis ................................ 85 Table 9.10 – On-Board Travel Times for All Metro Plus ADA Paratransit Trips: March 2009 .. 86 Table 9.11 – Comparison of Travel Times on Metro Plus ADA Paratransit Service vs. Fixed Route for Selected Trips, March 2009 .......................................................................................... 87 Table 10.1 – Metro Plus Vehicle Fleet Information ..................................................................... 94 Table 10.2 – FY 2006 to FY 2009 Metro Plus Operating Budgets .............................................. 95 Table 10.3 – LANTA’s Capital Budget ........................................................................................ 96 Table 10.4 – Metro Plus ADA Ridership ...................................................................................... 96 Table 10.5 – Input Data for Paratransit Demand Model ............................................................... 97 Table 10.5 – Calculation of Potential Demand for LANTA’s ADA Paratransit Service ............. 97 ATTACHMENTS Attachment A LANTA Response to Draft Report Attachment B FTA Notification Letter Attachment C On-Site Review Schedule Attachment D Metro Plus Customer Ride Guide Attachment E Metro Plus Customer Service Form Attachment F Metro Plus Application & Eligibility Card Attachment G Metro Plus Eligibility Sample Letters & Appeal Process Attachment H Methodology for Estimating Percent of Long Telephone Wait Times Attachment I Analysis of Driver Call-offs: March 29 to April 4, 2009 Attachment J Driver Interview Form Attachment K May 28, 2009 Letter from Easton Coach Company Attachment L Bus and Van Specification Checklist LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report 1 Purpose of the Review The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires public entities that operate fixed route transportation services for the general public to provide ADA complementary paratransit service for persons who, because of their disability, are unable to use the fixed route system. These regulations (49 CFR Parts 27, 37, and 38) include six service criteria that must be met by ADA complementary paratransit service programs. Section 37.135(d) of the regulations requires that ADA complementary paratransit services meet these criteria by January 26, 1997. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the ADA and the DOT regulations implementing the ADA. As part of its oversight efforts, FTA, through its Office of Civil Rights, conducts periodic reviews of fixed route transit and ADA complementary paratransit services operated by Federal grantees. The purpose of these reviews is to assist the transit agency and FTA in determining whether capacity constraints exist in ADA complementary paratransit services. The reviews examine policies and standards related to service capacity constraints such as those measured by on-time performance, on-board travel time, telephone hold times, trip denials, and any other trip-limiting factors. The reviews consider whether there are patterns or practices of a substantial number of trip limits, trip denials, early or late pickups or arrivals after desired arrival or appointment times, long trips, or long telephone hold times, as defined by the transit system’s established standards or typical practices if standards do not exist. The examination of patterns or practices includes looking at service statistics and basic service records and operating documents, and observing aspects of service delivery and operations including dispatch, reservations and scheduling to determine whether records and documents appear to reflect true levels of service delivery. Comments are solicited from local disability organizations and customers. Technical assistance is provided to assist the transit agency in monitoring service for capacity constraints. FTA conducted a review of ADA complementary paratransit service provided by the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, from April 27 to 30, 2009. Planners Collaborative, Inc. and TranSystems Corp., both located in Boston, Massachusetts, conducted the review for the FTA Office of Civil Rights. The review focused primarily on compliance of LANTA’s ADA complementary paratransit service with the requirement in the DOT ADA regulations that this service be operated without capacity constraints (49 CFR § 37.131(f)). Sections 37.123 through 37.127 of the DOT ADA regulations require that a process be established for determining who is ADA paratransit eligible and that eligibility determinations are made consistent with regulatory criteria. Section 37.129(a) requires that ADA complementary paratransit be origin-to-destination service. Section 37.131(a) requires that ADA complementary paratransit service be provided between origins and destinations within 3/4 of a mile of fixed bus routes and between points within a 3/4-mile radius of two different rail stations. Section 37.131(b) requires that next-day service be provided. Section 37.131(c) limits ADA complementary paratransit fares to no more than twice the full fixed route fare for a comparable trip. Section 37.131(d) requires that ADA complementary paratransit service be provided without restrictions or priorities based on trip purpose. Section 37.131(e) requires that ADA complementary paratransit service be provided during all days and hours that fixed route service Page 1 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report is provided. Section 37.139(g) requires that complementary paratransit plans address efforts to coordinate with other public entities that have contiguous or overlapping ADA complementary paratransit service areas. The review also examined LANTA’s ADA complementary paratransit eligibility determinations, rider assistance policies, and ADA complementary paratransit service criteria. This report summarizes the observations and findings of the on-site review of LANTA’s ADA complementary paratransit service. Chapter 2 explains the approach and methodology used to conduct the review. Chapter 3 then describes key features of transit services provided by LANTA—fixed route bus and ADA complementary paratransit service. Chapter 4 p summarizes the findings that are also presented at the end of the remaining chapters. Chapter 5 includes observations and findings related to rider assistance policies, service area, fares, trip purposes, days and hours of service, and coordination with other public transit entities. Observations and findings related to the eligibility determination process are presented in Chapter 6. Observations and findings related to the capacity constraint prohibition, as well as additional observations on response time, are then presented in Chapters 7-10 on telephone service, reservations, service performance and resources. Recommendations for addressing some of the findings are also provided. LANTA was provided with a draft copy of the report for review and response. A copy of the correspondence received from LANTA on December 9, 2011, documenting their response to the draft report, is included as Attachment A. Page 2 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report 2 Overview This review focused primarily on compliance with the DOT ADA requirement that ADA complementary paratransit be operated without capacity constraints. The regulations identify several possible types of capacity constraints including: waiting lists for trips, limits on the number of trips provided, and patterns or practices that result in a significant number of trip denials missed trips, untimely pickups, or excessively long trips. Capacity constraints may include any operating policies or practices significantly limit the amount of service to persons who are eligible for ADA complementary paratransit. To assess each of these potential types of capacity constraints, the review focused on observations and findings regarding:  Trip denials and wait-listing of trips  Trip caps  On-time performance  Travel times This review also includes observations and findings related to five other sets of policies and practices that could affect access to ADA complementary paratransit service:  Rider assistance policies  Service area, response time, fares, trip purposes, and service times  Efforts to coordinate with other ADA complementary paratransit services in the area  ADA complementary paratransit service eligibility process  Telephone capacity The review also addresses scheduling, dispatching, operation of service and an analysis of resources as a potential contributor to capacity constraints. 2.1 Pre-Review The FTA Office of Civil Rights sent a notification letter to LANTA’s Executive Director, Armando V. Greco, on January 30, 2009, confirming dates for the review and requesting that information needed by the review team be sent in advance of the review. The notification letter is provided in Attachment B. Based on the information received from LANTA, the review team examined key service information prior to the visit. This information included:  A description of how LANTA’s ADA complementary paratransit service is structured  Current contract with Easton Coach  Easton Coach Company Operator Manual  Metro Plus Rider Handbook  Public information and brochures describing LANTA’s ADA complementary paratransit service Page 3 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report  LANTA’s standards for on-time performance, trip denials, travel times, and telephone call-handling  LANTA Metro fixed route system map  LANTA Metro Plus ADA service area map  Samples of completed operator manifests from previous six months  ADA complementary paratransit operating data for previous six months  Capital and operating budget for FY 2006, FY 2007, and FY 2008  As requested by FTA, LANTA made additional information available during the visit. This information included:  Service data, including electronic files of raw data  Procedures for reporting complaints and comments  Records of customer comments and complaints related to capacity issues: trip denials, on-time performance, travel time, and telephone access  Staffing charts for various departments  Pullout records  Vehicle inventory  Additional capital and operating budgets and cost data In addition, the review team contacted several riders, disability advocates, and disability agency staff to get comments on their experiences with LANTA’s ADA paratransit service. 2.2 On-Site Review An on-site review of the ADA complementary paratransit service took place from April 27 to 30, 2009. The review began with an opening conference, held at 9 a.m. on Monday, April 27 at the LANTA offices at 1060 Lehigh Avenue, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Attendees were: Armando Greco Executive Director Denis Meyers Assistant Executive Director Melissa Gemelli Assistant Executive Director Joe Scott President, Easton Coach David Batchelor VP of Operations, Easton Coach Leonard Koury Operations Manager, Easton Coach Rosemary Gerty TranSystems (team leader) Thomas Procopio TranSystems Jim Purdy Planners Collaborative Sue Clark FTA Office of Civil Rights (via telephone) Deborah Haines FTA Region III Civil Rights Officer (via telephone) Ms. Clark opened the meeting by thanking LANTA and Easton Coach, its contractor, for opening its office and operations to the review. She mentioned that the review team would make every effort to complete the review with as little disruption to the LANTA/Easton Coach operation as possible. She also invited LANTA staff to contact her directly should they have any Page 4 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report questions or concerns about the review. Ms. Clark stated that the main purpose of the review was to assess compliance with the ADA requirements. She also noted that the review team had significant experience with ADA complementary paratransit operations and encouraged LANTA to utilize the review team for technical assistance. Ms. Clark stated that FTA sees the compliance reviews not just as a way to assess LANTA’s operation of services, but also as an opportunity to determine if LANTA has the resources necessary to comply with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990. She mentioned that preliminary findings and an opportunity to respond to them would be provided at a closing meeting on Thursday, April 30 and encouraged LANTA to ask questions about the preliminary findings as well as possible approaches for addressing any issues that might be identified. Rosemary Gerty of TranSystems then presented the schedule for the on-site review, including the parts of the operation that would be observed each day. A copy of the review schedule is provided in Attachment C. Following the opening conference, the review team met with LANTA and Easton Coach managers to discuss the information sent in advance as well as the information and material that was available on site. The review team clarified LANTA’s operating policies and procedures, reviewed the Metro Plus budget and resources, and discussed the status of an ADA complaint filed with FTA. After touring LANTA’s facilities in Allentown, the review team spent the remainder of the day at Easton Coach in Easton, observing reservations, reviewing the telephone system and performance reports, and observing dispatch operations. On Tuesday, April 28, the review team returned to Easton Coach to continue its observations of trip reservations and dispatch and met with the schedulers to discuss procedures used to develop the final operator manifests. The review team also began examining records for on-time performance and travel time verification and began interviewing drivers.. On Wednesday, April 29, the review team met with the LANTA staff member responsible for managing the eligibility determination process and reviewed application files. The review team continued the analysis of on-time performance and travel timeand completed driver interviews. The vehicle inventory was reviewed and vehicle inspections were performed with vehicles representing each model year n the fleet. The review team also traveled to Easton Coach’s satellite operations facility in Whitehall. On Thursday, April 30, the review team completed the data analysis and prepared for the exit conference. The exit conference began at 1:30 p.m. at the LANTA office. Attendees were: Denis Meyers Assistant Executive Director Melissa Gemelli Assistant Executive Director Joe Scott President, Easton Coach David Batchelor VP of Operations, Easton Coach Leonard Koury Operations Manager, Easton Coach Rosemary Gerty then TranSystems (team leader) Thomas Procopio TranSystems Jim Purdy Planners Collaborative Susan Clark FTA’s Office of Civil Rights (via telephone) Ms. Clark opened the exit conference by thanking LANTA and Easton Coach for their cooperation in the review. Ms. Clark reiterated that the goals of the review were to assess Page 5 LANTA – ADA Complementary Paratransit Service Compliance Review Final Report compliance and to provide technical assistance on ADA complementary paratransit services. She stated that a copy of the draft report will be provided to LANTA for review and comment. Once the draft is transmitted to LANTA, the report would be subject to release in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. LANTA’s comments on the draft would be incorporated into a final report, and the final report will be posted on FTA’s website. Ms Clark advised that LANTA will be required to respond to the findings presented in the draft report. Recommendations, which do not require a response, will be offered as suggestions for addressing the findings and LANTA may consider the recommendations in developing responses to the findings. Those findings that require corrective action will be presented in a reporting table for LANTA to use in reporting proposed corrective actions and a timetable for making required changes. LANTA will then prepare follow-up progress reports for FTA review until FTA releases LANTA from follow-up reporting. Ms. Clark encouraged LANTA to begin addressing findings discussed during the on-site review while awaiting the draft and final reports. She also invited LANTA staff to contact FTA or the review team for technical assistance over the next several months if they decided to move ahead with corrective actions. The review team members also thanked the LANTA and Easton Coach staff for the cooperation they had provided throughout the week. They then presented initial findings in each of the following areas:  Service design (rider assistance policies, service area, response time, fares, trip purposes, days and hours, and coordination)  Eligibility determinations  Telephone access  Handling of trip requests  On-time performance  Trip duration  Resources (vehicles, personnel, and financial planning and budgeting ) Page 6