[Colorado-Talk] Speak up Tuesday about multiple-stop trips for Access on Demand

[Claudia Folska, PhD]

Dear Nate, thank you very much for this email alert and announcement. You are quite right, our voices matter and they’re very important. As a former RTD board member I’d like to share some of my insights with the group. Number one. The more the merrier. It’s very impressive to the board members when many people show up saying the same thing. And, they cannot keep any of you from speaking. Even if what you’re saying is the same. Often times board members or the chair of the committee or whoever is in charge of the meeting will say if you’re all going to say the same thing just point one person so they can speed it along. Please resist doing that. Each person will have three minutes to speak. If there are many things that we want to say collectively, we can designate one person to say a group of things, a next person to say a group of things and wind up getting 10 people to speak for three minutes thereby getting 30 minutes to say the whole story of what you want to convey. It’s very powerful. Second. If you have any documentation of anything to share, please do so. Give it to the board manager and they will make copies and distribute it. You do not need to bring 15  Copies of any documentation for each board member. I hope that helps if you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Kind regards, Claudia. Hope to see you all there tomorrow night at 5:30. I will be there. 

> On Apr 28, 2024, at 11:13 PM, Nate Trela via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> RTD's next board meeting is Tuesday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m. and we could use anybody interested in speaking out about potential changes to Access on Demand to make their voices heard. The agency should have begun a peer review of its paratransit offerings by now and the RTD board is expected to have that report in hand some time in June. That makes it critical we keep speaking about the importance of restoring multiple stop trips for Access on Demand users.
> 
> I would implore anyone who cares about the issue and is an Access on Demand user to come to the meeting in person. It  will be held at the RTD office, 1660 Blake Street, in Denver. If you are interested in speaking, please show up a few minutes early so you can sign up at the table just outside the meeting room to talk. Even if you are not interested in speaking, having a presence in the room will go a long way to showing how serious this issue is and how we will not just accept a reduction in service.
> 
> If you plan to attend the meeting via Zoom, you need to register in advance. Here is the link to register - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__V6whPf_RTCkeggTVe8nJQ#/registration
> 
> The agenda for the meeting can be found at https://rtd.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=14&ID=4335&Inline=True
> 
> RTD continues to seek feedback from Access on Demand participants about the service. You can share your thoughts at https://rtd-denver.com/access-on-demand-update
> 
> That form is only for Access on Demand users, and if you are one, you can weigh in there on anything you think is running well or poorly with the program. Among the suggestions for improvements and changes I have heard people raise are:
> - Restoring the ability to make multiple stops on a single trip
> - Increasing the number of rides allowed monthly (currently 60; was 120 under the now-discontinued Access a Cab program)
> - Finding a better way to track Access on Demand rides taken across multiple providers. (users must track how many rides they take across all providers and face suspensions if they go over the current allotment of 60, but the user must manually track it)
> - Doing a better job of addressing ride-share denials for service dog handlers. (RTD added Uber Pet to the covered services but that means the voucher does not go as far in terms of covering the costs of trips)
> - using a model similar to what DRCOG provides for seniors, where a credit is placed on the Uber account each month and riders can decide for themselves how best to use the funds, which do not carry over from month to month.
> 
> Please reach out to me if you have any questions and especially if you plan to be at the meeting.
> 
> Cheers,
> Nate
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