The Roving Activist’s Blog

We are still sending in complaints to RGRTA about the buss pass-ups that have been happening to certain disability advocates here in Rochester. Pam Taggart, one of the advocates who experienced them asked me to post the complaint that she sent to the Powers That Be at RGRTA. No problem, Pam. Here it is:

Pam’s Complaint

Tuesday, the 22 of May 2007

Route 10 Portland, Bus 1212, heading Eastbound

Time 7:55pm 

We were at the Edgerton Center at 41 Backus St. waiting for the bus.

Anthony Griggs, Anita Cameron, Pat Taggart (my Twin Sister) and me, Pam Taggart were there waiting.

When the bus came, the driver told us that we were lucky that the bus wasn’t crowded, because he told us that when it was crowded, he wouldn’t take us.

Anita was on her cell phone and the driver thought Anita was filming him,

but she was NOT! The driver said he was going to sue Anita for filming him.

After he strapped in Anita, I asked the driver to get going so we all can get home, because last Tuesday, he drove so slow, we almost missed our bus.

And all the while he was saying that he had baby carriages on the bus last week,

but he did not say that on Thursday the 17th, 2007, when he left us. The driver asked us if we were still mad at him, and we said YES.

When Pat and I got off on St. Paul St., I said, “you should have told us that on Thursday”. But he did NOT.

Thank you,

Pam Taggart

I sent in a formal, written complaint to Ann Nichols at RGRTA/RTS today. Chris also spoke with her, and according to her, the pass-up problem wiil be addressed, and Chris will be informed when the driver has been “spoken to”. Pam and Anthony also filed complaints. Meanwhile, the video that I took of the incident yesterday has been uploaded to YouTube.

Here is the link to the bus video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/adaptanita

3/30/07: 8:45am. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 1125. Lift would not work. I noticed that the problem had to do with the height of the curb in relation to the lift. Had the driver gone a few inches forward to the curb cut, this would not have happened. Unfortunately, the driver ignored my efforts to offer this solution. I am not a mechanic, but as a wheelchair user with extensive experience with bus lifts in numerous situations, I feel that I have valuable insight to offer. The driver could have at least tried the suggestion, as it was not a safety issue, and if it did not work, then, so be it. She did, however, call this in, and call a mechanic, who arrived, but by that time, the lift was deployed.

April

4/2/07: 5:21pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 1 Park, bus 613. The driver asked if I would wait for the next bus because he said that there were a lot of people already on. Since the bus was not full, I insisted that he allow me on. When I tried to board the bus, the lift did not work. The driver said that it had worked a few minutes earlier, and there was indeed, a woman in a wheelchair who was already on the bus. The driver did call a mechanic, who managed to get the lift to work, and at the bus operator’s request, the mechanic followed the bus to our stop, but the lift worked.

4/3/07: 8:52 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 672. The lift would not work. The #1 was behind it, but it was going back to the garage. I called RGRTA about this, and the woman took my name, etc, and made a formal complaint.

4/12/2007: 10:03 am. State/Lyell, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 702. I and another passenger who uses a wheelchair missed our stop at State/Jay. The driver took us to the closest stop, which was at Lyell. I debarked form the bus, but noticed that my colleague did not. When he arrived at our office 30 minutes later, he stated that the driver would not let him off because as she said, “this isn’t your stop”. This driver was used to taking this person to 41 Backus Street, and decided that since he always goes to Backus Street, he couldn’t possibly be going anywhere but to that location, even though he asked to be let off at the same stop where I alighted.

4/18/2007: 11:37 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 624. Lift would not work. Driver called it in, and all passengers were transferred to another bus. I called this in to RGRTA, and made a formal complaint.

4/18/2007: It has come to my attention that clients of Lifetime Assistance, an agency that serves people with cognitive and developmental disabilities, have been denied rides because the bus drivers do not believe that these passengers are persons with disabilities, even though all passengers have shown proof of their disabilities. The drivers have decided that since these passengers’ disabilities are hidden, that they are lying or faking, and so, will not honor their monthly reduced-fare passes. I spoke with Michele Ashford, a Service Coordinator at Lifetime Assistance, who explained to me that they purchase the bus passes at the Main Street office, where they show proof of each client’s disability at the time of the purchase. Ms. Ashford has complained (written and verbally) to the customer service department, but has received no response from RGRTA. I advised her to write to Mark Aesch, CEO, and Ann Nichols, Director of Customer Service. I also advised her to bring some of her clients to the upcoming Town Hall meeting on April 30 to talk about this, and she has agreed to do so.

4/18/2007: 5:32 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 669. The bus broke down.

4/19/2007: 6:13 pm. Main/Clinton, Westbound. Route 4 Genesee, bus 676. The lift did not work. The driver called it in, as did I. RGRTA did send a bus for me.

4/26/2007: 8:34 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 1 Lake, bus 115. This was a low floor bus whose ramp did not operate automatically. The driver refused to operate the lift manually. I called RGRTA, and the told me that they were sending bus 1204, but Route 10 Dewey came before the rescue bus, so I took that, instead.

May

5/15/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 657. Driver picked up two passengers in wheelchairs, and two other passengers with disabilities. The driver complained that they were too slow, and warned them that if he came by the stop, and there were two passengers in wheelchairs wanting to get on the bus that he would pass them up. A complaint was registered with RGRTA.

5/17/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 675. Driver refused to allow passengers in wheelchairs to board the bus, telling them that he would send for another bus. Additionally, the Director of the Recreation Center boarded the bus one stop prior to Backus/Phelps. Passengers began complaining to the driver that they would have to “let those wheelchairs on”, and the driver told them that he was not letting them on. At that point, the Recreation Center Director asked for the driver’s information, then, asked to be let off of the bus. The driver became angry, and yold her that she could do what she wanted, that noyhing would happen to him. A complaint was registered with RGRTA. Ed, at RGRTA is handling this.

Follow-up to the last incident

5/22/2007: 7:55 pm. Backus/Phelps, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland. I went to the bus stop with Pam and Pat Taggart, and Anthony Griggs to see for myself what was going on. When the driver pulled up, he stated, “Y’all lucky tonight, the bus ain’t crowded. I told you, when the bus is crowded, guess what?” I was trying to surriptitiously videotape this on my cell phone, but the driver busted me, and asked was I taking his picture because that was illegal. he was so busy concentrating on me, that he totally ignored Pat, who was taping everything on her radio.

Whe we got on the bus, he tried to act friendly with Anthont and the Twins, and kept asking them were they still mad at him. They told him that they were, indeed, still angry. The driver tried to make excuses for passing them up on Thursday, saying that there were 4 of them in wheelchairs, when in fact, there were only two. He tried to say that there were 4 women with baby strollers on the back of the bus. Personally, this driver was as full of stuff as a Christmas turkey! I am convinced that the only reason that he let them on the bus was that he saw me with them, and I have ridden his bus before. I will share my information with Chris, and we will file a formal complaint, and see what RTS does. More than likely, there will be firther action, because he has already said that he will leave them if his bus is crowded. I will keep you abreast of this ongoing issue.

There was a 13-day lull in incidents, and I was beginning to wonder if it had to do with my filing an FTA complaint. Apparently, I spoke too soon.

3/20/07: 5:02 pm. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey. Did not stop. The bus was not full. RGRTA was closed, and I couldn’t get through to the Operations Center.

3/20/07: 5:13 pm. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 667. Lift did not work. The driver did call this in. He stated that there would be a bus to get us in ten minutes. At 5:26 pm, bus 677 (rescue bus) did come by, but the driver had trouble getting the lift to work. Eventually, it did work.

3/22/07: 9:10 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 677. Lift did not work. I called this in to RGRTA.

3/22/07: 4:30 pm. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey. A consumer of CDR who uses a wheelchair and her attendant was waiting for the bus. The 10 Dewey arrived, but the driver would not let them on, stating that there was another bus right behind him. It was Route 15, an express bus, so of course, it did not stop. This has happened several times to me, and to others who use wheelchairs. That particular bus was not full; the driver simply did not want to take the time to operate the lift. This has become a trend among some drivers, particularly in the afternoon.

For two years, I have kept a Transit Incident Log to track bus incidents such as lifts not working, pass-ups, or rude drivers. On November 22, I began keeping a log for bus incidents in Rochester, NY. I have reported each of the incidents to the Rochester Genesee Regional Transit Authority (RGRTA). I have also spoken of these incidents at the customer Town Hall Meetings.

I did receive a call back in November from the Director of Maintenance, who has since left. He verified each of my complaints, and told me that the 600 series buses are notorious for lift breakdowns, and will be discontinued. However, they are still out there on the street.

I have also had several incidences of pass-ups, which were recently verified by a street supervisor, who witnessed a pass-up. To date, I have had 20 incidents that I have been able to log, not counting about twelve incidents of pass-ups so swift that I was unable to get a bus number or other information.

Perhaps twenty incidents in 3 months is acceptable to some, but not to me. Something must be done about this, and “I’m sorry” is meaningless if nothing further is done.

I arrived in Rochester, NY on November 18, 2006, and rode the bus for the first time on November 22, 2006.

Transit Incident Log

November

11/22/06: 6:07 pm. State/Jay. Route 1 Park Avenue, Eastbound. I asked to be let off at St. Paul/Main, but when I reached the stop, I realized that it was the wrong stop, and asked the driver to let me off at Clinton/Main, which is 1 block East. The driver swore violently and at length at me, then, drove one-half of a block, and put me off, saying that he would go no further. I reported this to RGRTA, and to Mark Aesch, CEO of RGRTA.

11/29/06: 9:45 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey. The lift would not work. I asked the driver to call it in, but he eventually got it to work.

11/29/06: 5:15 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 683. The lift would not work. The driver said that he would call it in. I called, and made a complaint to RGRTA.

11/30/06: 8:45 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 662. The lift would not work, and the driver was very rude. He did call this in, and eventually, got the lift to work. I called RGRTA to complain about the lift, and the general bad service.

December

12/13/06: 5:12 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland, bus 672. The lift would not work. The driver says that he called it in.

12/19/06: 8:35 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 651. The lift did not work.

January

1/25/07: 12:15 pm. State/Jay, Westbound. Driver would not let me on the bus. I called RGRTA.

1/31/07: 10:28 am. Clinton/Byron, Northbound. Route 11, bus 609. The lift would not work. The driver said that he would call RGRTA.

February

2/6/07: 5:39 pm. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey. Bus would not stop. RGRTA closed, so couldn’t make complaint that day. Followed up the next day.

2/8/06: 5:34 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 1 Park Avenue, bus 1126. The lift would not work. The driver said that he would call it in.

2/13/07: 5:33 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 1 Park Avenue, bus 605. The diver said that the lift would not work. He refused to try it. I called RGRTA Operations to let them know.

2/13/07: 5:52 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 663. The lift did not work. I called RGRTA Operations, and they sent a bus.

2/13/07: 9:10 pm. State/Church, Eastbound. Route 3, bus 126. The driver did not properly kneel the bus; therefore, the ramp was too steep. He refused to help me get on until I told him that I would call the police and request assistance from them. Meanwhile, all of the passengers on the bus were yelling at me because they did not want me on the bus. The driver did not put a stop to this. When I got off at my stop, they began yelling again because they did not want the driver to take the time to lower the ramp so that I could get off. I reported this to RGRTA, and also spoke of this incident to the customer Town Hall meeting at which Steve Hendershott, the COO was present.

2/22/07: 9:46 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey. Driver passed me up. I called RGRTA to complain.

March

3/1/07: 8:54 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10, bus 682. The lift would not work. I called RGRTA.

3/1/07: 9:06 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10, bus 611. The lift would not work. I called in a complaint to RGRTA.

3/2/07: 10:54 am. State/Jay, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 609. The lift would not work when I tried to get off at my stop. Finally, the driver was able to get the lift to deploy, but once I was off of the bus, the lift would not stow.

3/2/07: 3:16 pm. State/Jay, Eastbound. Route 10 Portland ending at main/Clinton. Driver would not let me on the bus, saying that another 10 would be along shortly. This bus was a ramp bus, not a lift bus. I called this one in to RGRTA.

3/5/07: 9:03 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 613. Lift would not work. I called in to RGRTA.

3/7/07: 9:04 am. St. Paul/Main, Westbound. Route 10 Dewey, bus 664. Lift would not work. I called in to RGRTA.

I am so disgusted with RGRTA and its culture of poor service and disrespect towards people with disabilities that I have filed an ADA complaint with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). I called first to see if my complains had any merit, and spoke with Michael Winter, Director of the Office of Civil Rights, and David Knight, Director of the ADA division. Both of them agreed that my complaints had merit, and instructed me to fax a copy of my log, which I did. I will keep you abreast of things, and update my log, as well.

On March 1, 2007, RGRTA had a board meeting. As usual, Arlene has provided her excellant summary of the meeting. Here it is: 

RGRTA BOARD MEETING
MARCH 1, 2007
 
The first row of public seating for set aside for the media (in attendance were the D & C editorial board and WXXI radio staff), at the monthly RGRTA board meeting. Close to thirty-five members of the public, from the disability community, Bus Fareness Committee, bus driver’s union representatives, and other community activists such as Rev. Raymond Graves, were present.
 
Mark Aesche opened the meeting, using a body microphone, to present his annual report and comprehensive plan for 2007-8 for RGRTA. (The fiscal year for RGRTA runs from April to March, so this is a year-end report.) Key points of interest reported by RGRTA management staff:
 
· Seven (7) million dollar net income for the transportation authority, for the end of the fiscal year, up from the prior projected one million.
· An 85% on time bus rate (RGRTA has a minimum goal of 90%)
· RGRTA receives a percentage of county mortgage taxes (1million dollars) for operations
· Monroe County Sheriff’s Snow Removal Program shoveled out 250 of 650 bus stops. 
 
Customer Satisfaction Index Report
 
Ann Nichols presented the results of the customer satisfaction survey, showing an overall improvement (26%) from prior year’s data. Even with this improvement, there were some other key statistics of consumer satisfaction presented:
 
· 83% with timeliness of buses
· 45% with cleanliness
· 85% of call center staff
· 73% rating of drivers
· 2.13% disabled buses
· 1.96% pass ups.
 
There was some board discussion on pass ups (drivers not stopping) as these numbers were based on self-reports, and if drivers were passing up because the bus was full, mechanical difficulties, etc. Overall the board was displeased with the consumer satisfaction index on cleanliness, and stated the numbers over the four quarters showed a decrease in satisfaction. Mark Aesch spoke of solutions, such as using the cameras and tapes on the bus to monitor drivers, and taking disciplinary actions with drivers on pass ups.
 
T.I.D.E.

A great deal of the meeting focused on the proposed technical updates-GPS (global positioning system) technology, Smart Card (bus pass debit card) and Stop Enunciator (electronic voicing of bus stops). This would be rolled out in the next few years; the current timeline is as follows:
 
January 2007  Deadline To Review Written Proposals
March 2007  Oral Presentations Of Proposals
April 2007  Site visits.
 
It was not clear if the vendors interested in bidding for the projects would come to Rochester, or RGRTA staff would go to visit Trapeze Company (Toronto, Canada), Orbital Sciences (Virginia) or Siemens (Germany). 
 
Renaissance Square
 
Mark Ballerstein, Monroe County Engineering Operations Manager, discussed the status of the Renaissance Square Project. Tom Argust raised questions about the need to see monthly financial expenditure statements. Mr. Ballerstein still had none, after one year of meetings, but promised to have operating cost estimates and expenditures at next month’s April meeting.
 
There was an animated discussion on Mark Aesche being the representative to the Main and Clinton Development Group, and how he would vote-as CEO of RGRTA or as a representative of the RGRTA board. It did not seem as if this issue was decided-Mark Aesche abstained gracefully-but the board voted to approve the proposal to give Mark Aesche carte blanche to act however he saw fit on the Main and Clinton Development Group. This group of four, is composed of two former county employees who are now in construction, is in charge of the planning for Renaissance Square. Mark Ballerstein, when questioned about the lack of an open process for membership in the Main and Clinton Development, stated it was based on their ’specialty expertise’. He also stated he is fine with it, as it is composed of people he knows and has worked with.
 
RGRTA Comprehensive Plan
 
Mark Aesche congratulated RGRTA for having a balanced budget for the 9th year, and stated this is the second time the budget has had a net surplus. He also mentioned RGRTA had purchased 54 buses. He presented many Power Point slides on RGRTA’s 2007-08 Strategic Operations Plan for the coming year: customer service excellence, financial stability, employee participation and putting buses where people want to go. A plethora of data on increased ridership, customer service, was presented; none about putting buses where people want to go. The Commissioners praised Mark Aesche and staff for a great presentation and excellent work.
 
Expenditures
 
RIT was approved to be a technical consultant on the T.I.D.E. project. This was based on their research in the developmental phase. They will be a sole source contract.
 
All other contracts, and funding were presented and approved in rapid-fire succession, with no discussion.
 
Other
 
Mark Heller (Orleans County) resigned as a Commissioner. There are now two vacancies on the RGRTA Board.
 
***************
Inquiring Minds at the public meeting were overheard asking the following questions:
 
Q:  Why aren’t citizens allowed the opportunity to speak?
A: Public meetings usually allow citizens the opportunity to speak or ask questions at
the beginning or the end. RGRTA has opted not to be this. Instead, they have
Town Hall meetings, where questions can be asked to one or two administrative
staff, but not Commissioners.
 
Q: Why can’t citizens have a copy of the Comprehensive Plan at the meeting?
A: Reports, and other documents on the agenda were available for the public at the
December 2006 meeting, by request. Since, then, none have been available when
requested.
 
Q: Where on the website is the Comprehensive Plan-I can’t find it?
A: It is one the page with the Commissioners photos, at the bottom of the page. The
web address is http://www.rgrta.org/About/BoardOfDirectors.aspx
 
Q: What did the media think about the meeting?
A: The Democrat and Chronicle Editorial Board member had some interesting
opinions that you can check out at http://www.democratandchronicle.com/blogs/editorial/2007/03/aesch-rather-not-respond-to-reader.html
 
Feel free to post your comments as well!
 
Q: When is the next meeting?
A: Unknown-the website calendar ends at March 1, 2007. The pattern has been the
first of the month, but that is unconfirmed.

I have encountered many challenges since moving to Rochester, but the absolute bane of my existence is the Rochester Genesee Regional Transit Authority (RGRTA), sometimes known as the Regional Transportation Service (RTS). They also have a paratransit service called Lift Line. between Lift Line and RTS, there is a culture of intense hatred of, and absolute disregard for people with disabilities. It has been this way forever, it seems. The company has been sued, protested, and everything legal in between, yet these people behave with impunity. They don’t care, and they know that basically, there is nothing really that can be done about them. True, there are individuals withing the company, and certain bus drivers who are nice, but as a whole, I feel that RTS is beyond redemption. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from advocating for their customers who have been wronged, or continuing to try to get them to “straighten up and fly right”.

The current CEO is a charming “gentleman” named Mark Aesch, but don’t let his charm fool you. The man is an oily, slimeball, a liar who will outright lie to your face, and feel no shame, yet who will behave like a petulant child if he feels that you have wronged him. I experienced the horrors of RTS from the first time that I rode, and I got a taste of Mark Aesch when I attended the RGRTA Board meeting on December 7, 2006. I got the full Monty when I attended the Town Hall meeting on December 14, 2006.

The Board Meeting

Let me tell you first about the Board meeting. RGRTA Board meetings are held on the 1st Thursday of each month at their headquarters,usually in the conference room. Unlike every other board meeting that I have ever attended, though the public is welcome, members of the audience are not allowed to speak. Also, Mark Aesch, the CEO runs the meetings, NOT the Board Chair. In fact, it seems to me that the Board is fed only what Mr. Aesch wants them to know, and the Board seems to be a rubber-stamp Board, doing exactly what Aesch wants, with no dissention.

This Board meeting, oddly, was held in the bus garage because it was felt that there would not be enough room to accommodate all of the people who were attending. The garage entrance was inaccessible, so I had to enter through the bus bay. Needless to say, it was freezing in there! The media was present, which spoke to the importance of this meeting, as the Board was going to vote on discontinuingthree bus routes that went throught the Western suburbs — routes 76, 83, and 95. The audience was full of Lift Line users who were worried, and rightly so, because if these routes were cut, the corresponding Lift Line service would also be discontinued for these riders.

RTS is a strange bird. They seem to be proud of their shoddy performance and poor customer service. They have a nasty attitude, and sneaky ways. It appears that their Standard Operating Procedure is to disseminate misinformation or outright lies, or to hide information in places where most members of the public wouldn’t think to look. For example, there were supposed to be public hearings on the propsed discontinuance of the three bus routes. Mark Aesch complained that only 1 person showed up for the hearing. Of course that would happen when you put the announcement in the Rochester Business Journal, instead of your own website! No wonder almost the entire public hates them!

As it turned out, the Board voted unanimously to end the routes effective January 1st. The Lift Line users shouted and staged a mini protest, but were quickly ushered out, with the media in tow. Good for them! One of the Board members asked just as the meeting was about to be adjourned if it was true the the Lift Line users would lose ther services. Mark Aesch replied “Yes and no”. According to him, Lift Line users would get to keep their services until March 31st. As it turned out, it was far more complicated than that, and many Lift Line folks still lost their services on the 1st of Janaury.

December’s Town Hall meeting

RTS has Town Hall meetings once each month. Well, they’re supposed to. December’s meeting was originally supposed to take place at the Irondequoit Town Hall, in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester. On the day of the meeting, the location was suddenly changed to the Pittsford Library, in Pittsford, another suburb. Needless to say, since the change of information was not publicized, the only folks who showed up were a gentleman whose son is a Lift Line user, and the Advocacy Crew (Arlene, Dean, and myself), along with two of our interns. Arlene found out about the change because she happened to call RTS for some other reason, and on a hunch, asked about the Town Hall meeting.

Following is Arlene’s summary of the meeting. This is an overview of the entire meeting. My summary, which follows, focuses only on questions that I had of Mr. Aesch, along with his respones, if any, and my reactions.

RGRTA Town Hall Meeting, December 14, 2006

The RGRTA Town Meeting was held at the Pittsford Town Hall, and lasted about one hour.

RGRTA News
Mark Aesch also spoke about a new Advanced Traveler Information System that is being rolled out. This system will locate buses by satellite, displaying their position on an electronic monitor at downtown bus shelters and on the Internet. Riders will be given continuously updating arrival times.

Lift Line
Mark Aesch also revealed the Lift Line Ride Reminder system was not ready yet. They are hoping to bring it online in January 2007. Arlene Wilson, CDR Systems Advocate, asked how the new 20-minute window for Lift Line scheduled rides is working. Mr. Aesch stated he did not have current data on that.

A gentleman from the Webster/Penfield area expressed frustration at his son not being able to obtain a Lift Line ride for the family dinner on Thanksgiving. He further stated that his son could be transported during the week and wanted to know why he could not obtain a ride on that Thursday. Mark Aesch stated there could be several reasons; the holiday and weekend schedule may be different. He explained how Lift Line is a mirrored service of RTS, and can only go where it does, when it does. He also explained about the ADA, and how it limits service provision to ¾ mile beyond the route.

Deaf Access
Dean DeRusso, RCIL Deaf Systems Advocate, asked questions about disability access of the bus fare box system, signage posted too high and driver communication access for deaf and deaf/blind consumers using the bus system. Mr. DeRusso also asked about where to obtain multiple ride passes, outside of business hours. Mark Aesch took careful, detailed notes. He then referred Mr. DeRusso to the RGRTA website for a listing of where bus passes can be obtained, and informed him that all day ride passes are sold by the driver, on the bus.

Mr. Aesch also suggested that training for bus drivers on deaf communication might be beneficial. He also shared that new fare boxes were being requisitioned, as part of new capital purchasing. These new fare boxes will have smart card technology, so a person can waive their card in front of the sensor, and have their fare debited.

Lift Access & Pass Ups
Anita Cameron, a Systems Advocate from the Regional Center for Independent Living, introduced herself and shared her dissatisfaction with RGRTA bus service. She gave specific dates, and times of when she had been passed up by RTS drivers. She also documented an instance when a driver had sworn at her, and several instances of when lifts were inoperable. Mark Aesch, initially incredulous, took copious notes, and later apologized for the swearing incident.

Ms. Cameron also requested a number be established to the Operations Center, so people who are having issues with the lifts can call. Mr. Aesch did not feel this would be necessary, and people could contact the call center.

General Information
Ann Parsons expressed her displeasure with the new general information telephone system. RGRTA has changed the system to be a multiple step system, and has reprogrammed the outgoing voice to reference bus travel by direction (north, south, east, west).  She explained the difficulty of this for people who are blind or visually impaired. Mr. Aesch did not understand, so Ms. Parsons explained further that people are travel trained to use the bus independently by professional staff. If changes such as these are to be made, the staff needs to be appraised of this, so they can train people based upon current information. Arlene Wilson also commented that major road and some routes do not go true north, south, east or west, making orientation that much more difficult. Mr. Aesch took notes.

Closing
Mark Aesch reaffirmed the desire of RGRTA to address all concerns of people and requested the personal information of the people with questions and issues in attendance, to get back to them on their concerns.

Questions, suggestions and RTS responses at the 12/14/06 Town Hall Meeting

I have been here only a short time, and have already had 4 separate incidents of broken lifts. What is RTS doing to ensure that their bus lifts are properly maintained? Answer: CEO Mark Aesch maintains that the lifts are cycled every day, and does not understand why I am having problems. He said that 4 incidents of broken lifts in 3 weeks sounded excessive. I responded that I keep a log of all events that happen, such as a broken lift, or an especially rude driver. I did have this log with me. After the meeting, I was approached by a gentleman who said that he worked in Maintenance. I told him about each incident, and showed him my log. He asked specific questions about how the lift was behaving, and showed me the forms that the drivers use to make reports and evaluations. When I finished responding to his questions, he asked me if I thought that the problem was due to driver training, or actual mechanical issues. I told him that I felt that the problem was a combination of the two. I gave him my contact information and asked him to get back in touch with me. He returned my call the next day, and confirmed what I already knew. He further informed me that he was well aware that there are lazy drivers who don’t want to take the time to operate a lift, and he has set a message to all supervisors that drivers who lie about broken lifts will be written up and disciplined.

How is RTS tracking the number of complaints about broken or malfunctioning lifts? Answer: Mr. Aesch did not answer this.

I have called both the customer service line, and the general line regarding complaints. Answer: Mr. Aesch suggested that I call the call center number. I asked if all those calls wouldn’t be overwhelming to call center staff, and Aesch was somewhat insulting, saying that they had to have a centralized number for everything, not, say, one number for wheelchair users who are left-handed, and one for wheelchair users who are right-handed…he tried to go on, but I stopped him.

There should be a phone number that passengers who use wheelchairs can call to report these specific issues. Perhaps, the number can be the same number that the bus drivers use to report broken lifts. That way, the problem will be reported, and proper statistics can be compiled from these reports. Answer: Aesch thought that the idea was an interesting one.

Indeed, what is RTS’s policy regarding broken lifts? What is the driver supposed to do? Answer: Aesch did not know the answer to that, but said that he would look it up.

What is RTS going to do to address the problem of drivers not announcing stops? Answer: Aesch admitted that this is a problem, but did not offer any solutions.

I have been passed up so many times that I have lost count. Answer: Aesch tried to dispute this, but I stood my ground.

One of the first things that struck me about riding the bus here is the resentment towards passengers who use wheelchairs that many bus drivers exhibit. I am aware of the two-minute restriction that drivers must adhere to, and it is obvious to me that when a driver stops to board a wheelchair-using passenger, that two-minute restriction is violated because the driver must spend time securing the passenger’s wheelchair. When a driver is running late, or feels that he or she will be running late, it is not uncommon for them to pass up a passenger in a wheelchair. Answer: Aesch claims that the two-minute restriction is untrue, that perhaps I heard it on the street, or in another city. I responded that I have never even heard of such a policy until I came here to Rochester. Later, I learned that the staff person who told this to our group was present, but said nothing.

When the driver does stop, the resentment towards the passenger is clear, and often spills over, so that other passengers express resentment and hostility toward the passenger with a disability. What is RTS doing to address this “culture of hostility”? Answer: Aesch apologized for the rudeness of the bus drivers, but did not answer the question.

What is the policy regarding snow removal at bus stops? Answer: Snow removal at the stops and shelter is not their responsibility.

Last week, when we had the somewhat heavy snow, I left for work early in the morning, but since the snow was not shoveled, I had to return home and call a taxi to get to work. As we get deeper into winter, I expect that we will have much heavier snows, which will affect the operation of bus lifts and ramps, since they must be on a flat surface to operate properly. What have you done in the past, and what do you intend to do in the future? Answer: For the past three years, they have asked the sheriff to have inmates do the snow removal at the most widely used bus stops. RTS is willing to set this up for certain bus stops that are often used by people with disabilities. He asked that we call the call center number to put in our requests.

RGRTA Board Meeting February 1, 2007:

A View from the Audience

February 1st 2007 was the monthly RGRTA Board meeting. This time around the meeting was located at their main office in the boardroom– not the bus garage.  The public seating area had approximately twenty people, in three rows representing: the RGRTA union, the deaf community and people with disabilities.  

The board meeting began with an overview of the agenda that was established for the day.  There were fewer board members at this meeting then the one in December 2006.[1] The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.  There were some interesting customer service statistics in the reports presented by staff:

Annunciation (calling out) of bus stops: 24%
Customer satisfaction with bus cleanliness: 36%.

The Bottom Line

It was reported by the board that this time around the financial report was “more accurate and grounded”.  In light of this, RGRTA will not consider requesting further aid from the Governor of New York, because:

For this fiscal year, RGRTA had a 6 million dollar profit. 
Lift Line was under budget by 3.7 %.

This means the bus company is no longer losing money—it is covering expenses so well, even Lift Line, the Black sheep of the mass transit family, is doing well.

So, we must then we must ask:

Where does this surplus money go?
Who decides what it will be used for?
Does the board get to vote on the reallocations?
Does the community get any input?

Community Recommendations

The board then passed all proposed resolutions (union health insurance changes, contracts for various services) and then adjourned the meeting.  They announced they were going into executive session, so the public had to leave. One can only wonder what was being discussed in Executive Session.

Perhaps the RGRTA board should consider:

Stopping cuts to any more routes
Restoring abbreviated services to peripheral communities
Extending Lift Line services to 1 mile outside of the fixed route, instead of ¾ mile
Establishing premium services for border service areas
Providing alternative fixed route vehicles (small buses) for abbreviated fixed route provision.
     
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[1] The January 2007 meeting was cancelled. When asked why, the response was “No particular reason.”