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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>I wish we had this here in SC!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, February 4, 2022 4:11 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Curtis Chong <chong.curtis@gmail.com><br><b>Subject:</b> [Colorado-Talk] RTD's Access-a-Ride customers can now pay their fares with mobile tickets<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Greetings and salutations:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.rtd-denver.com/news-stop/news/rtds-access-ride-customers-can-now-pay-their-fares-mobile-tickets">Original Source</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid gainsboro 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 2.0pt 0in'><h2 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0in;mso-line-height-alt:14.4pt;background:white'><span class=field><span style='font-size:21.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545;text-transform:uppercase'>RTD’S ACCESS-A-RIDE CUSTOMERS CAN NOW PAY THEIR FARES WITH MOBILE TICKETS</span></span><span style='font-size:21.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545;text-transform:uppercase'><o:p></o:p></span></h2></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#5C5C5C;text-transform:uppercase'>POSTED ON <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#5C5C5C;text-transform:uppercase'>02.03.2022<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>Starting this week, RTD customers who use <a href="https://www.rtd-denver.com/services/access-a-ride"><span style='color:#096AB0;text-decoration:none'>Access-a-Ride</span></a>, the agency’s complementary paratransit service, will be able to purchase their fares wherever RTD mobile tickets are sold.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>Access-a-Ride fares are now available on RTD’s <a href="https://www.rtd-denver.com/fares-passes/mobile-ticketing"><span style='color:#096AB0;text-decoration:none'>Mobile Tickets app</span></a>, as well as on the Uber, Lyft and Transit apps. As with all mobile tickets, Access-a-Ride tickets can be purchased for immediate use or future travel. Pre-purchased tickets remain valid for 45 days after purchase. RTD fares are the same price whether paying by cash, paper ticket or mobile ticket, and they are available at Local, Regional and Airport fare levels.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>To this point, Access-a-Ride fares could be paid only in cash or with Local 6-Ride Ticket Books, the latter available at <a href="https://www.rtd-denver.com/fares-passes/passes-ticket-books/sales-outlets"><span style='color:#096AB0;text-decoration:none'>RTD sales outlets</span></a>, participating King Soopers and Safeway stores, or <a href="https://www.rtdonlinestore.com/"><span style='color:#096AB0;text-decoration:none'>online</span></a>. Enabling individuals to purchase Access-a-Ride tickets from a smartphone provides them with the same convenience customers experience on RTD’s fixed-route bus and rail services. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>“This is about equity,” said Paul Hamilton, RTD’s Senior Manager of Paratransit Services. “Mobile ticketing gives customers one more option, it brings them into the 21st century and it ensures that they are treated the same way we would treat any of our customers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>Individuals qualify for travel on Access-a-Ride by being unable to access a bus stop or a lift-equipped fixed-route bus by themselves, or by having a disability that prohibits independent travel on a fixed-route bus, criteria set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). New customers interested in using Access-a-Ride service can sign up by filling out an application on the RTD website or by calling 303-299-2960. From there, they must provide a medical verification form and complete an in-person interview and transportation assessment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;box-sizing: inherit;margin:1rem;text-rendering: optimizelegibility'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#454545'>RTD has more than 14,700 active Access-a-Ride customers, nearly 1,000 of whom are new to the service within the last year. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, reflecting the most recent data available, an average of 39,179 Access-a-Ride trips were taken each month during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequent travel destinations include medical offices, dialysis centers, day programs and workplaces. Access-a-Ride also offers its customers grocery delivery and pickup, a service that debuted in March 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>End of Excerpt<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>Findings From Curtis Chong<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'>1. While the announcement does tell us that, “Pre-purchased tickets remain valid for 45 days after purchase,” it says nothing about what happens after a ticket is activated. RTD tickets purchased with a mobile app are always good for 45 days and no longer. But what happens once an Access-a-Ride ticket is activated—something we are advised to do immediately before boarding the vehicle?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'>2. As it turns out, once an Access-a-Ride ticket is actually activated, you have to use it within an hour or it will expire. Why RTD did not say this in the official announcement is a mystery and a frustration to yours truly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in'>3. Despite this vexing problem, this new RTD service is a great help to those people who are able to operate a smartphone and use a mobile app.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Very truly yours,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Curtis Chong<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>