MTS Access is provided in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is an origin to destination, shared ride, advanced reservation public transit service.
Paratransit service providers constantly strive to improve service and the rider experience while keeping costs in check. For MTS Access, this meant taking advantage of new and existing tools to increase scheduling and booking efficiencies and provide passengers with more self-service and mobility options.
MTS Access has implemented several Trapeze PASS modules to streamline processes and improve rider engagement.
PASS CERT. As one of the few US agencies which enforced conditional eligibility per the FDA guidelines for certain riders on access, MTS Access needed a robust certification management system that allowed the agency to track those conditions and verify eligibility for specific trips. PASS CERT automated tasks and extracted passenger information from the core transit system. During the reservations process, the software listed previous evaluations for the passenger, showcasing whether the passenger was eligible for the trip. It then went ahead to book them). The software also scheduled passengers for assessment if they had no earlier evaluations.
“Clients are fully embracing it. They love the 24-hour aspect of it - that they can go in and view their trips, change their trips, anything they want to do on their schedule, not ours, and when our reservation offices open.”
PASS IVR. MTS didn’t have the personnel to make all the notifications to passengers the day before or on the day of service – e.g., imminent arrivals and verifications of cancellations. One big pain point was not being able to provide the passenger with exact trip times until after 5 PM, when the schedulers finalized the bookings and made all these passenger calls. PASS IVR (Interactive Voice Response) automated this time-consuming process for them. “We just put it in the system, and boom – the computer does the work and makes those notifications. And we have a record that those calls being made, so there’s no miscommunication,” said Jay Washburn, MTS Manager of Paratransit and Minibus.
“The riders love it. They’re getting the reminders. They have much more confidence that the service will be there and when it’s going to arrive for them.”
PASS Web. A web-based customer portal eased the burden on the call center for taking reservations or providing trip information. It increased operational and cost efficiencies. MTS implemented PASS-Web, through their EZ Access website, enabling passengers to book, cancel, confirm, and track trips ‘round the clock and look up trip information.
“It’s no different than anyone who uses a taxi service might see pull up in front of their house. We’ve had a really positive reaction to it. And it’s been a great program over the last few years.”
TripBroker. MTS also licensed and regulated taxi services for the city of San Diego and leveraged their close working relationships with taxi companies to safely and efficiently off-load trips to them. This arrangement helped riders who preferred single rides while reducing operational costs for MTS.“
It’s no different than anyone who uses a taxi service might see pull up in front of their house. We’ve had a really positive reaction to it. And it’s been a great program over the last few years.”
Extending their paratransit capabilities with PASS modules was a big win for MTS. It expanded and improved customer service while strengthening finances during COVID’s downturn in paratransit calls.
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