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

Mon Feb 26 16:45:42 UTC 2024

Jaime Lewis from CCDC will be sworn in at this meeting which is good news
for our community!!

--

With Gratitude,

Julie Reiskin
Co-Executive Director
Email Address: jreiskin at ccdconline.org
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
1385 S. Colorado Blvd. Bldg. A., Suite 610
Denver, CO 80222
Organizational phone: 303-839-1775 | Direct Phone: 303-667-4216

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On Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 9:33 AM Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk <
colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Greetings:
>
>
>
> We now have links to the agenda and Zoom registration for the RTD Board of
> Directors meeting to be held on February 27 (tomorrow) at 5:30 p.m. As Nate
> Trela indicated in his email last Thursday, the in-person meeting will be
> held at the RTD office, 1660 Blake Street, in Denver.
>
>
>
> 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_dfZB3qq8SNSr3XMpB1PXHw
>
>
>
> Information about the board meeting and links to the agenda and agenda
> packet can be found at this link:
> https://rtd.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3608
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Curtis Chong
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Nate
> Trela via Colorado-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2024 8:48 AM
> To: colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Nate Trela <ntrela at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Help get RTD to restore multiple stop trips for
> Access-on-Demand
>
>
>
> 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)
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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