ADA-Paratransit No Show/Late Cancellation Policy

The Richland County Transit Board (RCTB) has established this “No Show/Late Cancellation” policy, which is distributed to all persons when requesting an application for use of the RCTB para-transit system, or by request.

Background

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) comparable complementary paratransit service is a federally mandated service requiring equal access to the public fixed route bus system for certified eligible disabled passengers. The service area and hours are the same as the fixed route bus system.

Using the guidelines found in 49 CFR 37.125, Richland County Transit (RCT) has developed the following policy and administrative process for addressing no shows and late cancellations. Section (h) of these guidelines, provides that a public transit service provider may suspend the provision of paratransit service to ADA eligible individuals who establish a pattern or practice of excessive no-shows and/or late cancellations.

Definitions

No-Show: A “No-show” shall be recognized as an ADA eligible person who fails to appear; fails to board the vehicle, and/or use his/her scheduled transportation within the standard “ready window.” The ready window is the thirty (30) minute time frame during which the passenger has been advised by staff to be ready for their pickup. The bus is required to wait up to five (5) minutes for an individual upon arrival within the ready window.

Only no-shows that are under the rider’s control may be counted against the rider. No-shows caused by reasons beyond the rider’s control (e.g., scheduling problems, late pickups, operational problems on the part of the transit provider, a family emergency or sudden turn of the worse in a variable medical condition) or operator error will not be counted against the rider.

Late Cancellations: A “Late Cancellation” shall be recognized as an ADA eligible person who fails to cancel the appointment for pick-up at least two (2) hours before the scheduled pick-up time.

Only late cancellations that are under the rider’s control may be counted against the rider. Late cancellations caused by reasons beyond the rider’s control (e.g., family emergency or sudden turn of the worse variable medical condition, loss of telephone communication) or operator error will not be counted against the rider.

If you need to cancel your trip, please notify Richland County Transit as far in advance as possible at 419-522-4504 Ext 100.

Policy

Individuals with No-shows/Late Cancellations may be sanctioned or suspended from service according to the following guidelines:

First Occurrence: If an individual has one No-Show/Late Cancellation, RCT shall contact the individual by telephone to determine if there was a reason the reserved trip was missed and document the occurrence, at which time a thirty (30) daytime frame begins.

Second Occurrence: If an individual has a second No-Show/Late Cancellation within thirty (30) operating days of the first No-Show/Late Cancellation incident, RCT shall mail a letter to the individual notifying the individual that a second NoShow/Late Cancellation has been recorded and that a third No-Show/Late Cancellation within thirty (30) operating days of the second incident will result in a review of these incidents to determine if there is a pattern or potential practice of abuse of the para-transit service, which, if found, could result in suspension of the rider’s eligibility to use the paratransit service for ten (10) calendar days.

Third Occurrence: If an individual has a third No-Show/Late Cancellation within thirty (30) days of the second No-Show/Late Cancellation the circumstances regarding the all of the occurrences will be reviewed.

This review will include an evaluation of the total number of trips that the rider scheduled during the period, the number of trips that were completed, and the number of trips for which the rider had a No-Show/Late Cancellation occurrence (missed trip), in order to determine the rider’s rate of missed trips.

The review will also take into consideration the overall No-Show/Late Cancellation rate for all riders of the para-transit service. If the rider with three missed trips within the time frame described herein has a missed trip rate that exceeds the average missed trip rate by double the rate for all riders, this will be considered to be abuse of the system.

In the review process, if it is found that the rider has consistently scheduled similar trips (for example, on a specific day of the week or to a specific location) for which the rider has had multiple missed trips this will be considered a pattern.

If it is determined that a pattern of No-Show/Late Cancellation occurrences exists or that abuse of the para-transit service is apparent, the individual shall be suspended for ten (10) operating days.

Method

In the event of a suspension of ADA Paratransit Service, RCT shall take the following steps:

1. Notify the individual in writing that RCT is suspending their service.
2. The suspension will cite, with specificity, the basis of the proposed suspension and set forth the proposed sanction.
3. Provide written notification and guidance on the RCTB Paratransit Appeals Process.

Appeal Process

In the event of a suspension, and as noted in step #3 of the methods used for suspension, the rider will be provided with a copy of the RCTB ADA Paratransit Appeals Process, which addresses suspension that has occurred as a result of the actions that are outlined in this policy.

Adopted: March 16, 2015