[Colorado-Talk] Help get RTD to restore multiple stop trips for Access-on-Demand

[Nate Trela]

Hello Federationists,

For those of you not familiar, RTD offers Access-A-Ride users a
supplemental service where you can receive 60 free trips a month (max.
value $25 each) combined across Uber, Lyft and a pair of taxi
services. The Access-on-Demand service is certainly an improvement
from the agency's previous paratransit offerings, but it has started
to roll back the service in a way that seriously impacts frequent
users.

>From the program's launch, Uber riders were able to create multi-stop
trips that were covered with the same dollar limit as one-way trips.
This meant if you were dropping off a kid at school on the way to
work, picking up a grocery order, quickly running into a post office
or passing through a drive-thru, if you kept the trip under $25 it was
fully covered. You did not have to lose time waiting around,
potentially in harsh weather, for your next ride.

Late last year, however, the agency sent out notices that it would no
longer allow multi-stop trips. It claimed the ability to book such
trips on Uber was a "glitch" and they never should have been allowed.
Many riders say this prohibition never had been mentioned. And the
change can literally cost Access-a-Demand users hundreds of dollars
out of pocket every month because they run out of trips by the middle
of a month.

We need to let RTD know that we're not going backwards.

We are looking for as many Access-on-Demand users as possible to
attend the next RTD board meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 27
at RTD headquarters, 1660 Blake ST. People can sign up there to speak,
but even just showing up in numbers and filling the room will help
make the case.

We also need letters to go out to RTD's senior leadership making the
case to restore coverage of multiple stops. There's a sample letter at
the end of this email. All of the Letters should be sent to RTD's
general manager, Debra Johnson at Debra.Johnson at rtd-denver.com.  Every
RTD board member is also an elected official, representing a specific
district, and we should be reaching out to them as well. A complete
list of Board members and an accessible search feature can be found at
https://www.rtd-denver.com/about-rtd/board-of-directors

If you write a letter or would like to attend the meeting in person,
please drop me a line at ntrela at gmail.com so I can help organize the
group. If you need help with your letter or have other questions,
please reach out as well.

Cheers,

Nate Trela

--- Sample letter


You can use this as a template and fill in the blanks or build on it
in your own words. The important part is to convey the costs in terms
of time and money.


Hello, my name is [your name] and I am an Access-on-Demand user.
I am writing to urge RTD to restore the ability for riders to make
multiple stops on one  trip under the Access-on-Demand program.
Access-on-Demand has been a great step forward for paratransit
services in Denver, and we should work together to make it stronger.
The ability to make multiple stops on a single trip would appear to
provide savings for RTD and consumers, and it would also enable
passengers to complete trips and tasks quickly and safely.
Whether the vouchers were ever intended to cover multi-stop trips or
not, they opened up opportunities for paratransit users.
(You could add an example or story ABOUT WHAT YOU COULD DO before with
multiple trips that you cannot now and, if possible, quantify the
financial impact. Are you using more trips now because you can't do a
round trip to pick up an order at the store or drop your child off at
school as you head to work? Maybe you made a decision to live
somewhere because the math worked if you could make that extra stop.
Perhaps you had to drop an activity because you are now out of trips
by the middle of the month. Were you stuck outside in sub-freezing
temperatures waiting for the next ride when all you needed to do was
run inside a school or a store for a minute.)
The arguments expressed by staff and at advisory committee meetings
against allowing multiple stop trips while limiting the number of
trips riders can take in a month do not add up. The capability to make
multiple stops existed under the old Access-a-Cab service. There were
no limits to the number of rides that could be taken under that
program or under the core Access-a-Ride service. Multiple short  trips
combined into one trip represent savings because they mean only once
paying the fees charged by ride services before your vehicle has even
moved from the pickup point. And the challenges in offering that level
of service to customers using Uber WAV should not mean the level of
service should be reduced for other consumers. Instead, RTD should be
working to improve the service for everyone.
As an RTD customer, a constituent and a blind person who has
benefitted from the level of service being provided, I implore you to
help lead RTD to restoring the ability to make multi-stop trips.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)