Meeting_Body
FINANCE, BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
APRIL 11, 2018
Subject
SUBJECT: ACCESS SERVICES - QUARTERLY UPDATE
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status report on Access Services - ADA Paratransit.
Issue
ISSUE
This is a quarterly update on Access Services (Access), as requested by the Finance, Budget and Audit Committee.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Agency Overview
Access is the Los Angeles County transit agency that provides paratransit services on behalf of Metro and 44 other Los Angeles County fixed route operators, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Eligibility for Access is based on a person’s ability to use accessible buses and trains in Los Angeles County. Access provided more than 4.3 million passenger trips in FY 17 and provides an average of 11,000 trips daily. Access’ paratransit service is a next-day shared-ride service, which means a ride must be reserved the day before and may be shared with other Access customers. Access provides curb-to-curb service with additional assistance available to qualified individuals. The service is operated by six contractors who are responsible for the following regions of Los Angeles County: Eastern, Southern, West Central, Northern, Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley. Customers call Access’ providers directly to make reservations and schedule trips. Access serves any area within ¾ of a mile on either side of a rail line or local bus route. This coordinated system allows Access customers to travel without having to transfer nearly anywhere in the Los Angeles County basin served by fixed-route transportation.
Background
This quarterly update and presentation provides information on Access’ operational performance and other Agency initiatives.
Agency Operational Performance
One of the main ways that Access oversees its contractors’ compliance with federal law and regulations and their service to Los Angeles County paratransit customers is through regular audits and the monitoring of a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In the last year, Access has expanded and modified its KPIs, which were formally adopted by its Board of Directors in October 2017. Access has also introduced liquidated damages (LDs) in its operating contracts that are tied to these KPIs. For example, to provide better customer service, Access recently introduced a KPI limiting the time a customer is on hold when they call to ask for the estimated time of arrival for a vehicle.
Key Performance Indicators
Overall, the major KPIs for Access’ ADA paratransit service are being met. Since the last update, the performance of the customer service call center contractor has improved significantly in response to management actions, which included both a cure notice and financial penalties. Access staff will continue to monitor this contract to ensure KPIs continue to be met.
Access’ preventable collision ratio has remained relatively flat over the last two years and is considerably lower than peer transit operators. Access counts any collision, regardless of dollar value, in this statistic to emphasize the importance of safety. Access has launched a number of initiatives to reduce these events, including the implementation of liquidated damages for preventable collisions; a minimum of two annual strategic safety campaigns; a collaborative safety steering committee that includes all its operating contractors, the same on-vehicle video camera system that Metro uses on its vehicles, as well as a team of Road Safety Inspectors.
On-time Performance (OTP) - Access has an OTP standard of 91% within a 20-minute arrival window and measures on-time performance by using GPS validation to confirm and verify driver-reported arrival time at a pick-up location. On-time windows of 20 or 30 minutes are standard for ADA paratransit.
Reservations - Average Hold Time / Calls on Hold over 5 Minutes - Access measures the average amount of time, in seconds, that calls for reservations are on hold before being answered. In addition, Access measures the percentage of reservation calls that were on hold for five minutes or longer before being answered.
Preventable Collisions - Access tracks preventable collisions system-wide, at the contractor level, and down to the driver level. As a primary measurement of how safe the paratransit system is, the preventable collision rate is calculated monthly and measures the number of preventable collisions per 100,000 service miles, an industry standard.
Service Complaints per 1,000 Trips - Access tracks the number of complaints it receives to monitor the overall quality of the service. All complaints received, regardless of validity, are included in this measure, which as shown improvement since the last report.
Customer Service Center and OMC - Average Hold Time - Access measures the average amount of time, in seconds, that calls for its customer service center and OMC are on hold before being answered.
Roll out of Where’s My Ride Application
More than 1,000 customers have downloaded the Where’s My Ride (WMR) application, which was launched in the Los Angeles basin in December 2017. As discussed at January’s meeting, this app allows customers to obtain an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for their trips and to provide feedback after the trip is completed, similar to customer feedback options found on the Uber and Lyft apps. In order to help customers use WMR, Access implemented a help line and posted instructional videos to help educate riders on the Access website at https://accessla.org/wmr.
Feedback from customers has been very positive. Access is planning to extend the WMR app to the Santa Clarita region in spring and the Antelope Valley region in the summer. Access is also working with large trip generators, such as Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, to implement WMR on tablets so they can track their customer’s trips.
Online Reservations
Access is also working with service providers to launch an online reservation function, which will allow riders to make reservations and cancel reservations directly via computers, tablets and mobile phones. It will eventually integrate with the WMR mobile app as well. As it did with WMR, Access intends to have customer’s test this new feature before rolling it out more widely. The schedule is as follows:
• Eastern and West Central regions in April;
• Northern region in July;
• Southern region in August;
• Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita regions in September.
Customer Outreach -- Abilities Expo
Numerous Access staff volunteered to participate in this year’s Abilities Expo which was held from February 23rd to 25th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Access had its own table and staff addressed questions such as how to apply for Access, renew an expiring eligibility, apply for subscription service and submit commendations or concerns. Access provided 317 trips to this three-day event which customers could track using the WMR app.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Access is in the process of completing the following:
• Bringing contract award recommendations to the Access Services Board of Directors for the Northern (San Fernando Valley) Region as well for the city of Santa Clarita’s paratransit service.
• Working with Metro staff on Access’ FY 2018-19 budget request. While ridership growth appears to be slowing, the cost of contracted transit and paratransit services is increasing due to legislated increases in the minimum wage and overall competition for employees. Access is mitigating budget increases through an improved eligibility process; technology improvements; and a joint effort with the County of Los Angeles to seek payment for qualified paratransit trips through the Medi-Cal program, among other initiatives.
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Giovanna M. Gogreve, Manager, Transportation Planning, 213-922-2835
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Nalini Ahuja, Chief Financial Officer, 213-922-3088
