Practices in No-Show and Late Cancellation Policies for ADA Paratransit (2005)

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The following terms are commonly found when dealing with ADA complementary paratransit services. The definitions are drawn from various sources including the Community Transportation Association of America, FTA, TCRP, and National Transit Institute. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)—Passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, this act mandates equal opportu- nities for persons with disabilities in the areas of employ- ment, transportation, communications, and public accommodations. Under this act, most transportation providers are obliged to purchase lift-equipped vehicles for their fixed-route services and must ensure system- wide accessibility of their demand-responsive services to persons with disabilities. Public transit providers also must supplement their fixed-route services with para- transit services for those persons unable to use fixed- route service because of their disability. ADA complementary paratransit or ADA paratransit— Paratransit service that is required as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which complements, or is in addition to, already available fixed-route transit service. ADA complementary paratransit services must meet a series of criteria outlined in the U.S.DOT imple- menting regulations. Advance reservation—A service request for a single trip to occur at a specified later time; same as a random request or demand request. For ADA complementary paratransit service, advance reservations must be accepted at least 1 day in advance of the trip. Automatic vehicle location (AVL)—An electronic com- munications system for tracking and reporting the location of vehicles to a central dispatching center. Batch scheduling—The practice of scheduling trips after some or all of the reservations have been received. Cancellation—An event where the customer who has previ- ously requested service contacts the transit agency to cancel the request before vehicle arrival. Some systems also define and count late cancellations, defined in various ways. Capacity constraints—Defined by the U.S.DOT regula- tions implementing the ADA as being policies or practices that significantly limit or constrain the availability of ADA paratransit service. Examples include trip priorities, wait- ing lists, or an operational pattern or practice resulting in a substantial number of untimely pick-ups, excessively long trips, trip denials, or carrier missed trips. 40 Curb-to-curb service—A common designation for para- transit services. The transit vehicle picks up and dis- charges passengers at the curb or driveway in front of the customer’s home or destination. Demand-response service—Where individual passengers can request transportation from a specific location to another specific location at a certain time. Transit vehicles providing demand-response service do not follow a fixed route, but travel throughout the community transporting passengers according to their specific requests. May also be called dial-a-ride. These services usually, but not always, require advance reservations. Denial—A trip that cannot be accommodated because of inadequate system capacity. (A denial does not include ineligible trip requests.) For ADA paratransit, a “capacity denial” is specifically defined as occurring if a trip cannot be accommodated within the negotiated pick-up window. Even if a trip is provided, if it is scheduled outside the 60/60-min window, it is considered a denial. If the passenger refuses to accept a trip offered within the 60/60-min pick-up window, it is considered a refusal not a capacity denial. Door-through-door service—A higher level of service than door-to-door in which the driver actually provides assis- tance from inside the origin to inside the destination. Door-to-door service—A form of paratransit service that includes passenger assistance between the vehicle and the door of his or her home or other destination. Dynamic dispatch—The practice of transferring trips from one vehicle to another or inserting trips in vehicle manifests based on real-time information during the service day. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)—This is a telephone- based technology in which someone uses a touch tone tele- phone to interact with a database to acquire or enter data into the database. IVR typically uses the keypad and menu-driven responses. Missed trip—Occurs when a carrier fails to pick up a pas- senger. A missed trip also may be declared when a vehicle arrives so late that the passenger will not arrive at his or her destination at a reasonable time (e.g., causing a passenger to miss a doctor’s appointment). Mobile data terminal (MDT)—An in-vehicle piece of equipment that receives and sends digital messages and GLOSSARY

41 displays messages on a screen. Sometimes called a mobile data computer or MDC. Negotiated pick-up time—The agreed on or negotiated pick-up time that is offered by the call taker and agreed to by the customer after a request has been placed and avail- ability checked. In ADA paratransit service, the regula- tions allow a 60-min negotiated pick-up time before and after the requested pick-up time, with consideration given for the applicant’s appointment or schedule. No-show—A passenger scheduled for a demand-response trip does not appear at the designated pick-up point and time and does not cancel the trip in advance. On-time pick-up window—The period (typically defined around the agreed on pick-up time) when customers are to be ready for pick-up and the period within which drivers can arrive and be considered on time. This window also will define the maximum change in time between the agreed on and scheduled pick-up times that can be made without notifying the customer. Paratransit—Types of passenger transportation that are more flexible than conventional fixed-route transit, but more structured than the use of private automobiles. Paratransit includes demand-response transportation services, subscription bus services, shared-ride taxis, car pooling and vanpooling, jitney services, and so on. Real-time scheduling—The practice of scheduling a trip at the time the trip request/reservation is received. Refusal—This occurs when a passenger refuses a trip that is offered and is considered responsive to the original request (for ADA paratransit service, this would be within the allowed negotiated pick-up window). Scheduled pick-up time—The pick-up time indicated by the scheduler; if scheduling changes are made after the customer has placed a request, the actual scheduled pick- up time may vary slightly from the negotiated on pick-up time as long as it does not violate the on-time pick-up window. Shared ride—Multiloading individual passengers on the same vehicle. Slack time—The available time in a vehicle schedule between a passenger drop-off and pick-up. Sometimes slack time is built into a schedule to accommodate antici- pated additions or changes. Subscription service—Repetitive service provided by advance reservations for the same trip, at the same time and day of travel over an extended period (often weeks or months). Sometimes referred to as “standing order service.” Trip—A one-way movement of a person or vehicle between two points. Vehicle wait time—The maximum time that drivers are required to wait for customers after they have arrived. Typically, the wait time does not start until the beginning of the on-time performance window. Will call—A will call or call when ready are terms for return trip requests that are not scheduled at the same time as the going trip.