Metro’s transportation program for the disabled and elderly will start picking passengers up at their doors instead of the side of the curb under a proposal the transit authority’s board of directors approved Thursday.
“The door-to-door service is very important,” Doris Gray, an advocate for the disabled from Northern Virginia, told Metro’s board. “People will no longer have to stand outside in inclement weather to wait for their ride.”
About 17,000 riders a year qualify to use MetroAccess, a program required by the federal government to supplement traditional bus-route service for the elderly and disabled. Steven Yaffe, Metro’s community transportation services chief, said the door-to-door service would begin in the summer. Drivers will wait outside for five minutes, and if a passenger does not come out, the driver will go to the door and escort the passenger to the vehicle.
“Door-to-door operations will improve the quality of service to the rider as well as the performance of the system,” Yaffe said. “This change in policy will allow us to connect more reliably with our riders.”
The board approved the enhanced service as part of a $6 million MetroAccess improvement package which will be paid for by a federal grant. Other upgrades include adding 65 vans to the MetroAccess fleet, filling seven new positions to oversee the program, expanding the system customers use to call in reservations and developing an informational Web site. Some of the new vehicles will carry 19 passengers, allowing for more group rides.
