Paratransit
Rider's Guide
A
Reference Guide to Paratransit Services Provided by
OUTREACH
&
Revised: July 2006
INTRODUCTION
As required by the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
provides paratransit services to individuals whose disability prevents their
independent use of VTA bus and light rail services.
ADA Paratransit services are provided by
OUTREACH under contract with VTA. As VTA’s paratransit broker, OUTREACH
schedules and manages services delivered to eligible customers through
contracts with sedan, accessible van, and taxi service providers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Section |
Page |
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1.
Contacting OUTREACH |
4 |
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2.
Getting Started |
5 |
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3.
Scheduling Paratransit Services |
5 |
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4.
Overview of Paratransit Services |
8 |
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5.
Summary of Fares and Service Charges |
12 |
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6.
Other Services, Information, and Policies |
13 |
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7.
Quality Assurance |
17 |
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8.
VTA Accessible Bus and Light Rail Services |
18 |
Information in the Paratransit Rider’s Guide
is subject to change.
1. CONTACTING OUTREACH
A. Address and Telephone Numbers
OUTREACH
General
Administration & Customer
Service (408) 436-2865
Fax (408)
382-0470
TDD (408)
436-0155
Scheduling
Department
Monte Sereno (408)
436-4860
TDD (408)
436-0155
Dispatch
Department - Cancellations, Open Returns, Late Vehicles
Toll-Free (800)
400-3440
TDD (408)
436-0155
Online Access
Website:
www.outreach1.org
E-mail:
transp@outreach1.org
B. Business Hours
OUTREACH's Scheduling
Department is open from
7
days a week, 365 days a year.
OUTREACH's Dispatch
Department is open from
7 days a week, 365 days a year.
OUTREACH
Administrative and Customer Service Departments are open from
Call 911 For Emergencies
2. GETTING STARTED
A.
Before You Schedule Your First Trip
Customers are encouraged to make an initial deposit
into their OUTREACH account by sending a check or money order, with their ID
number, payable to OUTREACH at the following address:
OUTREACH
Customer
Account Department
Or, customers who are interested in using a VISA or
MasterCard to make a deposit to their account may call the OUTREACH Customer
Account Department at (408) 436-2865, or TDD at (408) 436-0155.
An initial deposit of $25.00 is recommended.
B. Maintaining
Your Account
Money in each customer’s personal OUTREACH account will be
used to cover the cost of each trip provided. (See Summary of Fares and Service
Charges on page 12). Thus, to ensure continued availability of services, customers must
maintain their accounts. Customers may
not schedule any trips, or revise any trips that are already scheduled, once a
negative account balance of $15.00 has been reached. This policy applies to all
customer trips regardless of trip purpose.
OUTREACH
schedulers will provide account balance information during each scheduling
call.
3. SCHEDULING PARATRANSIT SERVICES
A. To Schedule a Paratransit Trip
To schedule service, customers call the Scheduling
Department for their city during Scheduling Department business hours. (See
Contacting OUTREACH on page 4.)
Paratransit trips may
be scheduled from
Customers may
schedule multiple trips with one call. OUTREACH schedulers may negotiate the
pick-up time with customers and schedule trips during a one-hour period before
a customer's desired pick-up time.
Please note that, to
minimize delays for other customers waiting to schedule trips, the number of
trips that may be scheduled per call may be limited to 4 trips per ID number
during periods of high telephone activity. However, there is no limit on the
number of next-day trips that may be scheduled.
Customers should be
prepared to provide the following information when they call to schedule a
paratransit trip:
·
OUTREACH identification number
·
The date and requested time of the pick-up and time of the return trip
·
The exact name and address (including suite number, if known) of the
pick-up and drop-off locations (including return trip information). If the
customer’s home address or destination is difficult to find, special driving
instructions should be provided when a trip is scheduled.
·
Customers should also inform the scheduler if they will be traveling with
a mobility device, a Personal Care Attendant, Companion or Service Animal.
If
the arrival time of a customer's trip is of primary importance, such as for a
trip to work or an appointment, the customer is advised to schedule the trip to
arrive early at the destination.
Scheduled
drop-off and pick-up times must be at least 30-minutes apart. OUTREACH Service
Providers are not able to drop-off and then wait for a customer at a location.
B. Scheduling a Return Trip
A
return trip may be pre-scheduled at a specific time, with a 30-minute pick-up
window, or the return time may be left “open”.
Please see Page 10 for information about Open Returns.
If
a pick-up location for a pre-scheduled return trip needs to be changed,
customers must inform OUTREACH Dispatch Office staff prior to the start of
their scheduled 30-minute pick-up window.
Changes
to pick-up locations are limited to locations at facilities, to nearby
addresses, or to locations across the street from where the scheduled pick-up
was arranged.
C. Canceling a Trip
Customers
must call the OUTREACH Scheduling Department at least 2 hours prior to the
beginning of the 30-minute pick-up window to cancel a previously scheduled trip
between
Trips
that are cancelled with less than 2 hours notice will be considered a No-Show.
Trips that are cancelled at the pick-up time (i.e., at the door) or missed by
the customer will result in a No-Show service charge. (See Paratransit Trip Fare Table on page 12.)
To
cancel a trip with a pick-up window scheduled to begin in less than 2 hours,
customers must call the OUTREACH Dispatch Department (open 5:00 AM to 10:00
PM). For pick-ups scheduled between
D. Automated Trip
Confirmation and Cancellation Option
Customers may confirm and cancel their trips 24 hours a
day without talking to an OUTREACH telephone representative by using OUTREACH's
Automated Telephone System.
Customers may use
voice commands or use their touch-tone telephone keypad to access the features
of the Automated Telephone System.
When calls to
OUTREACH are answered by the Automated Telephone System, customers will be
asked first to select their language:
For English: Press 1 or say "English"
For Spanish: Press 2 or say "Spanish" or
For Vietnamese: Press 3 or say “Vietnamese
After selecting one
of the three languages, customers will be directed to the main menu in that
language. If a different language is required, customers should press 0 and
select between the Scheduling, Dispatch, or Customer Services Departments.
The following is a listing of
the Automated Telephone System's Main Menu:
·
To schedule a
trip: press 1 or say "1"
·
To confirm or
cancel a trip: press 2 or say "2"
·
To report a
late vehicle: press 3 or say "3"
·
To request a
ride for today: press 4 or say "4"
·
To request
customer service: press 5 or say "5"
·
To request
other information: press 6 or say "6"
·
To change the
talk speed or volume: press 7 or say "7" or
·
To return to
the Main Menu: press 9, or say "9"
Customers using the
Automated Telephone System may say “Repeat” or press (*) if they need to listen
to the Main Menu again. To talk to a Scheduling or Dispatch representative,
customers should press 0, or say "Agent" at any time during their
telephone call.
To cancel or confirm
a trip, customers will be asked for their user ID number and their password. A
customer's user ID number is their OUTREACH customer ID number. For customer
convenience, ID numbers are also used as Automated Telephone System passwords.
4. OVERVIEW OF PARATRANSIT
SERVICES
A. VTA’s ADA Paratransit Service Area
The
Services within
B.
For travel to destinations in adjacent counties, beyond
the ADA Paratransit Service Area, customers may arrange a transfer to the
paratransit operator in the adjacent county.
For trips to
For trips to
C.
Service Hours
Paratransit service is provided between
D. 30-Minute Pick-Up Window
All
regular One-Way Trips shall be scheduled with a 30-minute pick-up window. An
OUTREACH vehicle may arrive any time within the 30-minute window. Customers are
not required to leave if the vehicle assigned to transport them arrives before
the start of the scheduled 30-minute pick-up window. However, all customers
must be ready to depart at the start of their pick-up window. Drivers will wait
for 5-minutes after they arrive within a customer's scheduled pick-up window
and may depart thereafter if the customer is not ready.
The
OUTREACH vehicle is considered late if it does not arrive within 10 minutes
after the scheduled pick-up window.
E. On-Board Travel Times
For customers scheduling trips with direct travel times
of up to 45 minutes, the planned on-board travel time may be up to one hour.
For customers scheduling trips with direct travel times longer than 45 minutes,
the planned on-board travel time may be 90 minutes or more.
Due to uncontrollable circumstances, customer travel
time may exceed the planned schedule.
F. Late Vehicles
If a vehicle has not arrived by the end of a customer's
scheduled 30-minute pick-up window, the customer should call the OUTREACH
Dispatch Department (open
OUTREACH monitors on-time performance closely and will make every effort
to deliver service in a timely manner. However, operational problems are
occasionally experienced, and the customer’s patience is appreciated.
G. No-Shows and Service Suspensions
If
a trip is not canceled with adequate notice, or the vehicle arrives at the
pick-up location and the trip is subsequently canceled, customers will be
considered a No-Show (failure to cancel a scheduled ride). A No-Show will be
logged on the customer's record if:
· The trip is canceled with less than two hours notice.