Metro’s fast-growing service for the disabled, MetroAccess, could nearly double its current ridership over the next five years, putting stress on the already expensive service.
Ridership figures for the shared-ride, door-to-door service for those physically unable to take Metrorail and buses have risen 20 percent over last year, according to the transit agency’s latest figures. And Metro is projecting a more than $8 million overrun for MetroAccess’ current $62 million budget.
In the past decade, MetroAccess ridership has grown 556 percent, according to the transit agency. In the last fiscal year that ended June 30, it ran 1.7 million trips, and projections suggest it could need to run 3.2 million trips by 2013.
This comes as overall ridership has increased for Metro and other transit systems nationwide as high gas prices and a souring economy led more people to find alternatives to their gas-guzzling cars. But the MetroAccess program has seen even faster growth as the local population ages and more people with disabilities need transit access.
Such service is required under the Americans With Disabilities Act. MetroAccess, which formed in 1994 to provide equal service to disabled passengers, has more than 20,000 registered riders.
The average trip costs $38, according to Metro, a subsidized amount beyond the $2.50 base fare that riders pay.
But those who ride the service say MetroAccess is plagued with inefficiencies that make the system’s growth hard to handle.
Harold Snider, 61, a consultant to the World Bank who has used the service for three years, said the system lags in responding to the increased demand.
Snider, who is blind, said his commute to work should take about 50 minutes but typically takes as long as two hours on MetroAccess, making him late for work.
He said the routes are inefficient and unpredictable. On Tuesday, he said a MetroAccess vehicle came from Laurel to the World Bank in Northwest to drive him to his home in Rockville — a 41-mile trip. “Why didn’t they send a car that was already downtown?” he asked. “The driver was puzzled. I was puzzled.”
A report released last month from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments showed that the system for disabled riders has high turnover rates among drivers and continues to drop off and pick up passengers too early after circuitous routes despite some improvements since 2006.
