BY CRAIG GIAMMONA
But after receiving a response from New York City Transit, the division of the MTA that oversees the program, Smith said more needs to be done to ensure that the elderly and disabled residents of southeast Queens who use the service are treated respectfully.”I'm not at all satisfied, more needs to be done,” Smith said, referring to a letter he received in response to his inquiry from Lawrence Reuter, president of New York City Transit. Reuter was asked to respond to Smith's inquiry by Katherine Lapp, the MTA's executive director.Calls to Lapp were directed to the New York City Transit's press office, which was not immediately available for comment.The Access-A-Ride program provides transportation for people with disabilities who are unable to use public buses or subways.Relying on complaint statistics from a six-month period in 2003 and complaints he personally received from residents at the Roy Reuther Housing Development in Far Rockaway, Smith asked the MTA to ensure that the “quality and efficiency of the vital service” provided by the Access-A-Ride program is maintained.From January to July 2003 there were 4,095 complaints against the Access-A-Ride program. Of these, 44 percent, or 1,817, related to “no-shows.” An additional 1,091 complaints involved late pickups, accounting for 27 percent of the total. An additional 12 percent of the complaints dealt with “verbally abusive” or rude drivers.Reuter wrote in a Feb. 7 letter to Smith that the Access-A-Ride program has experienced a “tremendous increase” in ridership in recent months which has “created challenges with the delivery of service.”In response, Reuter wrote, New York City Transit will “increase the number of vehicles as quickly as possible and will also enhance our scheduling capacity.”This did not satisfy Smith, who said the majority of the complaints relate to no-shows, rude drivers and late pickups. Smith does not believe that more vans will solve the problem. Smith, who has been told that a private company operates the program through a contract with New York City Transit, wrote back to Reuter on Feb. 17 and requested that the program be evaluated with “hard and quantifiable statistical information.””Something has to be done, there are no if's, and's or but's about it,” Smith said. “Actually, it's disgusting. We're taking about the elderly.”Smith added that if the private company contracted to run the program is not performing appropriately, then a change needs to be made.”If we have this many complaints, why are we still in business with them?” Smith asked.Reach Reporter Craig Giammona by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 ext. 146.
