Maryland paratransit service shows signs of improvement, but longtime users are skeptical: ‘We are the forgotten class’

By Maya Lora, Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE — Angela Jacob was just trying to get home on a snowy night in 2009 from an unfamiliar area of Baltimore when she was left behind by MobilityLink, the state’s shared ride service for disabled individuals who cannot use fixed-route bus and light rail service.

“I could not wait outside for the bus, but I was able to view it through the glass doors [of a commercial building],” Jacob said. “They did not see me even though I started rolling with my wheelchair. They left as soon as they did not see me.”

Jacob, 36, was unable to get another ride until hours later.

Jacob is a wheelchair user with spina bifida, which can cause leg weakness and paralysis. Her experience led her to start driving herself in 2010 and abandoning paratransit altogether in 2012. Even though medical issues prevent her from driving currently, she still hasn’t returned to using MobilityLink, instead relying on her husband and family to get around.

For at least two decades, disabled residents have faced major hurdles in reliably using what for some is their sole source of affordable transportation: MobilityLink, run by the Maryland Transit Administration. For fiscal year 2022, $145.6 million was allocated to paratransit.

Over the years, riders have reported persistent problems with MobilityLink, including long telephone wait times, lengthy and uncomfortable rides, and late pickups and drop-offs. While performance seems to be getting better, riders have cautioned that MobilityLink’s improvements are not consistent.

According to MTA, MobilityLink riders receive door-to-door service from their pickup location to their destination and back, though they must allow at least two hours between their drop-off and return time.

MobilityLink had an on-time performance rate of 92.6% in September, the most recent month for which the data is available, according to numbers provided by MTA, part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. That’s down slightly from 94.7% in August but up from the lowest point of the year, which was 73.3% in March.

A ride is considered “on time” if a driver arrives within 30 minutes of the assigned pickup window. A passenger is considered a no-show if they are not at their pickup location within five minutes of vehicle arrival.

MTA spokesperson Veronica Battisti said in an email a “reasonable wait” is expected of paratransit riders just as bus or light rail riders might have to wait at stations.

“MDOT MTA recognizes the critical nature of the services provided by MobilityLink and the impact delays have on our riders,” Battisti said.

Riders say even when things start to improve, it often doesn’t last.

“It gets a little better and then it gets a lot worse,” said Margaret Fulcher, 70. “I’ve been riding for more than 20 years and that’s just the way it is.”

In September 2021, the on-time performance rate dropped to a five-year low: 59.2%. In January 2021, the rate was 94.3%.

Danielle Phelps, 46, has a neurological disorder that requires her to use a wheelchair and prevents her from driving. She relies on MobilityLink and said she’s noticed lately that wait times on the phone lines have gone up again and that some of her rides have been more than an hour late. But just a couple of weeks ago, she would have said the service was running smoothly.

Floyd Hartley, 70, is also a wheelchair user. He said the service today is the best he’s ever seen in 20 years.

“My recent trips have been pretty much on time,” Hartley said.

But Hartley acknowledged that in the past “they would start up to do some good things and then they would fall back down, back to the same old routine again.”

Even when the service is running on time, there are other problems.

When riding, Jacob said she didn’t feel safe, having to hold on to whatever she could during the drive. Phelps said wheelchairs are strapped down in the front and back and passengers use a shoulder and lap belt.

“Being on the bus for that long is super-uncomfortable,” Phelps said. “Especially if you’re sitting in a wheelchair — it’s bouncy, it’s rough, it’s uncomfortable to be able to not move for that long a period of time.”

Both Hartley and Phelps were named plaintiffs in a 2015 class-action lawsuit against the MTA. The lawsuit was filed by the AARP Foundation and Disability Rights Maryland on behalf of thousands of riders who said paratransit was “woefully unreliable and inaccessible.”

In 2017, the MTA agreed to overhaul paratransit in response to the 2015 class-action lawsuit.

Gabriel Rubinstein is an attorney with Disability Rights Maryland, which advocates for the civil rights of people with disabilities. He said in an email that the 2015 lawsuit resulted in several changes to MobilityLink, including replacing and updating the phone service, adopting standards and practices that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing the number of full-time MTA telephone employees, and ending “illegal practices that excluded eligible individuals from the service.”

According to the MTA, there are 32,052 certified MobilityLink riders, though they do not all use the service regularly. The service uses 515 vehicles, including large and small minibuses, hybrid SUVs and accessible minivans. The current fare to use paratransit is $2.20, according to Battisti.

Fulcher, who started using paratransit 30 years ago after having one of her three strokes, said she and others have to turn to Uber and Lyft to get to medical appointments because MobilityLink is unreliable.

“When you’ve got medical appointments, you can’t be late. They charge you as a no-show and then you have to rebook your appointment and that’s awful,” Fulcher said. “They’ll tell you, ‘Oh, it’ll be there in 10 or 15 minutes,’ and your ride will never come.”

In 2021, when MobilityLink’s on-time rates plummeted to new lows. the MTA said the reduction in service stemmed from drivers leaving their jobs when ridership decreased during the coronavirus pandemic. The MTA said it would require bidders to commit to higher wages to attract drivers.

The MTA operates MobilityLink through three contracted service providers: First Transit, Transdev and MV, Battisti said. The contracts are for seven years.

Battisti said there are about 1,200 MobilityLink drivers among the three providers. About 60% of the workforce is unionized and only 12 operators are directly employed by MTA. Battisti said the average starting pay for a MobilityLink driver is $20-$21 an hour, up from $18 in 2021.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 represents over 750 paratransit employees for MobilityLink. John Ertl, co-trustee of the union, said it represents 450 to 500 drivers. He said even with higher pay, privatization has “destroyed the standard of living for employees in the transit industry.”

“It’s gotten to the point where it’s affected the service and it’s not really sustainable,” Ertl said.

Battisti said transit agencies across the nation have faced labor shortages since 2020 because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, ridership demand has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, she said. In September, MobilityLink serviced 125,000 trips compared with 150,000 in September 2019 and just 39,000 in April 2020.

But as numbers rebound, some riders still feel left behind.

“We are the forgotten class, let’s face it. People with disabilities aren’t really looked after and that’s the truth,” Fulcher said. “So what do the elderly and people with disabilities do? They just can’t go nowhere. They are stuck at home. And that isn’t right either.”

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