[Colorado-Talk] Access-on-Demand Recommendations to be Considered at the RTD Operations Safety and Secu; rity Committee

Mon Feb 10 17:14:18 UTC 2025

I have been looking forward to these changes like a man being frog marched
to the gallows.

So, hallelujah! 

But we obviously still have work to do.

Their latest recommendations include a 40-trip monthly limit, which I would
classify as better than the draconian cut to 30 but still not high enough.
After all, this would allow someone who works five days a week to get to
work and back, but they would have zero trips beyond that. And, if anyone
has tried to take Access-a-Ride to work, you know that that is not an
acceptable option. It took me over an hour and a half to get there the other
day.

Their recommendations also still include limiting AOD to the radius and
hours of AAR, which, thanks to Curtis harvesting the numbers for us, we know
will only save them $46,000. Without AOD, a lot of people will have no RTD
transportation options. Given the relatively paltry savings, this is not
acceptable.

One more recommendation, which I simply cannot fathom, is that new AAR
enrollees will need to use AAR for three months before they can enroll in
AOD. That’s torture; trust me, I know.

Here’s the full list of recommendations for Access On Demand. What do you
think?

RTD staff are recommending the following changes to the Access-on-Demand
program to ensure its long-term operational and fiscal sustainability:

• Implement a fare of $4.50 per trip, or $2.25 for LiVE program enrollees

• Provide up to a $20 subsidy per trip

• Allow up to 40 trips per month

• Limit service to the Access-a-Ride boundary (3/4-mile distance between
non-commuter bus routes and rail lines).

• Limit service hours to current fixed-route service hours

• Customers must be enrolled and actively use Access-a-Ride for 90 days
prior to enrollment in Access-on-Demand

That’s the list.

The other thing we absolutely need to push for is reforms to Access-a-Ride.
We’ve been hearing about these for years but have yet to see them
materialize. If they insist on cutting our Access On Demand trips, more
people are going to need to take Access-a-Ride. Fiscally, this makes no
sense, since AAR trips are about 4x the cost to RTD than AOD trips.

Anyway, there are many elderly and disabled people who can’t use Access On
Demand, so AAR will continue to be vital. It was, I assume, created shortly
after the ADA was adopted. That was 35 years ago. RTD needs to make whatever
reforms to AAR are possible to bring it up to what’s expected of a
paratransit service in the 21st century. That means shorter pickup windows,
and hopefully a shorter radius for additional stops on your ride. We also
want to get rid of the requirement that you remain at your destination for
an hour. If we could cut that in half, it would be a vast improvement.

Another ask would be to increase the service radius beyond ¾ of a mile.
Maybe two miles?

What other reforms would people like to see with Access-a-Ride? I feel like
we should push this while paratransit is on the Board’s mind.

Happy Monday!

Cheers,

Tim

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Curtis
Chong via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2025 8:56 AM
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Curtis Chong <chong.curtis at gmail.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Access-on-Demand Recommendations to be Considered
at the RTD Operations Safety and Secu; rity Committee

Greetings:

At its upcoming meeting to be held on Wednesday, February 12, RTD's
Operations, Safety, and Security Committee will be considering the following
recommendations from staff which are designed, apparently, to keep the
program going until the end of 2025. As you will see, no major changes are
yet being discussed or planned for this year. Of course, this can change at
any time, but here, for your edification, is what is going to be presented
to the committee on Wednesday.

<Begin Excerpt>

2025 Access- on- Demand Funding 

Committee Meeting Date: February 12, 2025 

Board Meeting Date: February 25, 2025 

RECOMMENDED ACTION 

For the Board of Directors to authorize the General Manager and CEO or her
designee to provide additional funding of $ 15,814,441 for the Access- on-
Demand

program, raising the not- to- exceed amount from $ 21.9 to $ 37.8 million,
and delegating authority to amend the contracts with existing providers to
increase

the current amount of program funding for the remainder of the term of the
contracts, which expire December 31, 2025. 

STAFF REPRESENTATIVE 

Fred Worthen, Assistant General Manager, Bus Operations Paul Hamilton,
Director, Paratransit Services 

PRESENTATION LENGTH 

5 minutes 

BACKGROUND 

RTD and its contractor partners deliver multimodal transit services across a
2,345 square- mile service area, which services include bus, light rail,
commuter

rail, and micro transit services, as well as Access- a- Ride complementary
paratransit services in accordance with the requirements of the Americans
with

Disabilities Act of 1990 ( ADA). 

In November 2020, RTD launched its Access- on- Demand service as part of an
expanded premium to Access- a- Ride paratransit service. Access- on- Demand

began as a supplemental demand- response pilot program in partnership with
Uber, a private transportation network company ( TNC). The program’s goal
was

to provide a responsive, on- demand platform for paratransit customers,
which was similar to the agency’s Access- a- Cab program as it existed at
that

time. The Access- a- Cab program provided alternative on- demand service to
paratransit customers through private taxicab providers. 

The Access- on- Demand pilot program provided eligible customers a per- trip
subsidy of up to $ 20, and those customers were required to pay the first

$ 2 in fare for each trip. Access- a- Ride customers within four ZIP codes,
selected for their density of existing paratransit customers, were eligible

to participate in this pilot. The program hours were between 6 and 9 a. m.
and between 2 and 5 p. m. The program was later expanded to an additional
three

ZIP codes and was expanded again to serve customers 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. During the pilot period, RTD continued to offer its Access- a-
Cab

demand- response service, for which a $ 12 subsidy was offered, and
customers were required to pay $ 2 in fare for each trip. 

Packet Pg. 3 

1.C.1 

Following the Board’s approval of funding in November 2022 in the amount of
approximately $ 9.3 

million, in January 2023, RTD merged the Access- on- Demand and Access- a-
Cab programs. Since then, RTD has partnered with four contracted private
providers,

Uber, Lyft, Metro Taxi, and zTrip, to provide Access- on- Demand service.
Customers travel using their choice of these providers, receive a subsidy of

up to $ 25 per trip, and pay no upfront fare. Additionally, customers
schedule trips through the four providers’ mobile apps or the RTD Access- a-
Ride

call center for Metro Taxi or zTrip. Customers are limited to 60 one- way
trips per month across all providers and are responsible for monitoring
their

trip usage. 

Due to the popularity of Access- on- Demand as an alternative to traditional
paratransit services, demand for service quickly exceeded expectations
following

the expansion beyond the pilot program in January 2023. Key factors driving
the increase in demand likely include the same- day convenience when booking

an Access- on- Demand trip, expanded service times and service area when
compared with Access- a- Ride, and no out- of- pocket cost to customers. As
a

result, RTD anticipates that Access- on- Demand trip cost subsidies for
calendar year 2024 will reach $ 11.1 million, a 77 percent increase over
subsidy

costs in 2023 ( at the time of this report development all third- party
costs for 2024 have yet to be reconciled). 

To ensure customers continue to have equitable and sustainable access to the
agency’s services, RTD commissioned a peer review of the agency’s
paratransit

service delivery. This on- site review was conducted by industry subject-
matter experts ( SMEs) in May 2024. These SMEs engaged in a holistic review
of

the paratransit program, including both the Access- on- Demand program and
the Access- a- Ride program. Peer review recommendations, coupled with
paratransit

customer feedback, will assist RTD in 

adopting industry best practices, understanding the agency’s strengths and
opportunities concerning 

paratransit service delivery, and determining options for potential
improvements, sustainability, and fiscal responsibility. 

DISCUSSION 

In considering this recommended action, the agency seeks to meet the
Strategic Priority of Customer Excellence. 

The Board approved an additional $ 8,600,000 in June 2024 to fund Access-
on- Demand, and the GM/ CEO approved an additional $ 2,000,000 in December
2024,

which sustains the program through February 2025. Based on projected
continual growth in demand for Access- on- Demand services, and until
sustainability

recommendations of the peer review committee may be vetted and adopted, an
additional $ 15,814,441 is requested to continue to provide Access- on-
Demand

services through December 2025 when the third- party contracts expire. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT 

Additional funding for the Access- on- Demand program in the amount of $
13,814,440 will be derived from existing funds in the 2025 budget, and the
remaining

$ 2,000,000 will be made available through the unrestricted reserve. Future
funding for this program will be allocated through the annual budget
process.

Packet Pg. 4 

1.C.1 

Prepared by: Paul Hamilton, Senior Manager, Paratransit Services Gretchen
Vidergar, Acting Manager, Paratransit Services

<End Excerpt>

Persons interested in attending this meeting remotely should register to
attend using this link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G14PPB31QOuch-MMwWWLSw#/registra
tion
<https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G14PPB31QOuch-MMwWWLSw%23/regis
tration> 

Kind regards,

Curtis Chong

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20250210/31c6829c/attachment.htm>