Members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Alliance for Reliable Transit, a paratransit advocacy group, gave Metro Transit near-failing grades on its first report card on the region’s transportation system.
Metro received an overall poor score. The report card shows a D+ in customer experience and a D in meaningful engagement with people with disabilities. Members of the advocacy group, which is convened by Paraquad, issued Metro an F for not being in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Members could not give a complete grade to Metro for keeping its promises.
The report card is necessary, because the public needs to know there are still multiple issues with Metro Transit and its services for people with disabilities, said SMART leader Etefia Umana.
“We want a robust, comprehensive, technologically advanced, customer service-oriented and transparent entity,” he said.
SMART is made up of disability advocates, family members with disabled loved ones and people in the region with disabilities. Over the past few weeks they gathered and graded Metro Transit on four main issues and came up with an average for each section. SMART plans to release a quarterly report card to grade the region’s transit operator.
The group decided to issue a report card because some members found that many people in the region were not riding the public transit and were unaware of the problems Metro’s paratransit services were having over the past few years.
Since the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Bi-State Development cut routes across St. Louis and St. Louis County because it did not have enough bus drivers and other operational staff. In April 2023, the transit service had to reduce Call-A-Ride services for about 250 disabled riders who lived in outlying parts of the county. Routes were eliminated because officials said they were outside of the transit’s federally obligated service areas.
Duane Gruis has been riding Call-A-Ride since 2013. He said before the pandemic the paratransit service rarely canceled his rides, but now it is difficult to schedule rides. Last month, Metro denied 6,590 out of 39,338 Call-A-Ride service requests. In April 2023, Metro needed about 80 additional drivers to reduce the number of trip denials, and as of March 1, Metro still needs about 80 van drivers.
“Every morning I'm up at 7:30 to make sure I get my Call-A-Ride and the rides I make for other people, and I dial the number over and over until I get through,” said Gruis, who uses a wheelchair. “Sometimes my redials are like 200 times.”
Gruis is disappointed that he has to adapt his life around Call-A-Ride’s route changes and cuts. He recently had to switch doctor's office locations from St. Louis to Kirkwood because the route to his physician’s St. Louis' location, which was closer to Gruis’ home, was cut.
He has been advocating for himself and other people with disabilities for more support and easier access to routes. He hopes the D+ grade in customer service will push executives to implement changes in their policies on how drivers treat riders, because he said he is occasionally mistreated by bus operators.
“I think the first thing they could do that doesn't cost any money is just be a little friendlier with the passengers,” Gruis said. “[Some] drivers just tell them where to go, like a drill sergeant would tell some enlisted person where to go. There's no respect or kindness in that process.”
Umana, who is blind, is upset with Metro Transit for numerous reasons, he said advocates should not have to press or file complaints on the transit agency to prioritize its disabled riders and their concerns.
“There's nothing wrong with trying to be the best service that you can be. You don't have to resist change,” he said. “It may ultimately make your organization more efficient, it may ultimately save money, it may ultimately make a more healthier workforce.”
Umana said Metro is failing in ADA compliance because the act does not allow patterns of denials. He hopes the new software system that Metro officials are in the process of implementing will quickly pick up ride requests and limit trip denials.
Members say Metro can improve their engagement score by holding open board meetings in accessible locations and to take public comment. They also say officials could boost Metro’s score by expanding communication with people with disabilities, so Metro can be more informed.
Over the years, SMART members have pleaded with Metro executives to include them in potential changes to routes or systems prior to implementation to provide feedback and recommendations to officials, said Jeanette Mott Oxford, the public policy and advocacy manager for Paraquad.
“That would lead to productive change, if they get committed to the fact that we are all in this together and that they owe us a system that works for our lives and people with disabilities deserve full active lives,” Oxford said.
