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

Mon Feb 10 20:50:11 UTC 2025

Hello Derek:

Here is the registration link. When I activate it, I am taken to the registration page.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G14PPB31QOuch-MMwWWLSw#/registration

If this is not what you are seeing, then there is a problem with RTD's material.

Cordially,

Curtis Chong

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Derek Selbo via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2025 11:41 AM
To: colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Derek Selbo <derek.selbo at gmail.com>; colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Colorado-Talk] Access-on-Demand Recommendations to be Considered at the RTD Operations Safety and Secu; rity Committee

Good afternoon, thank you for sending this useful information. I tried to get the meeting information and signed up for it. However, when I clicked on the link that you send, it did not give me any way to sign up. It just took me to the zoom website that asked me for the Meeting ID. Kindly let us know if you have the meeting ID or please send out the correct link to sign up.

Thank you and best regards

Derek Selbo 

On Feb 10, 2025, at 10:15 AM, Tim Keenan via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

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#/registration <https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G14PPB31QOuch-MMwWWLSw%23/registration> 

Kind regards,

Curtis Chong

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