Riders' complaints spur CDTA review

Federal officials to see if STAR bus service is in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer

First published: Wednesday, March 2, 2005

ALBANY -- Spurred by complaints of chronically late buses and other concerns, the Federal Transit Administration plans to review CDTA's bus service for the disabled.

Officials with the FTA, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees public transportation agencies nationwide, confirmed Tuesday that its Office of Civil Rights will examine the Capital District Transportation Authority's STAR bus system for passengers who are unable to use regular route buses. STAR stands for Special Transit Available by Request.

The review, one of about a half-dozen conducted each year around the country, will focus on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which sets standards for public transit service.

"We've been sending complaints for the last two years. I was hoping they would do this," said Donna Suhor, chairwoman for the Capital District Coalition for Accessible Transportation.

Carm Basile, CDTA spokesman and chief of staff, said the authority welcomes the review and expects it to yield helpful recommendations. But he said CDTA already is taking steps to make STAR more reliable.

"We feel that we've done a number of things that have improved service," he said. "Is it perfect for everyone? No. Could it be done better? Absolutely. I think the compliance review will shed light on these things."

Suhor said a chief concern for STAR users recently has been late pickups and arrivals. "People have lost jobs because of this," she said. "They're late to appointments."

Stephanie Milliren, who is blind and relies on STAR to get home from her job as a clerk at the State Museum, said she has noticed a deterioration in recent years.

She stopped taking STAR in the morning because so many passengers were added to the route that her six-block commute was taking as much as 40 minutes. She reluctantly switched to a regular CDTA bus in the morning but must stay with STAR for the commute home, she said, because she'd otherwise have to cross busy streets and sometimes-icy sidewalks on the trip from the bus stop to her apartment.

These days, she said, "the buses are hardly ever on time for my pickups."

In recent months, the STAR bus has twice been an hour late, and she once had to ask a friend to drive her to a physical therapy appointment because the bus did not show up, she said.

CDTA's own statistics, however, show recent improvement in STAR performance, despite a sharp increase in demand for the $2-per-trip service. The number of passenger trips on STAR for the period between April 1 last year and Jan. 31 was up 12 percent from the same period a year before.

According to CDTA, on-time performance has improved greatly, from 75 percent of trips in January 2004 to 90 percent in January 2005. And the authority says trip denials are down nearly 75 percent. It's not clear, however, how some record-keeping changes may have affected the statistics. For example, CDTA has eliminated its troublesome "standby" status, which kept some passengers guessing whether their requested trips would be added to the schedule that day.

The authority also hopes to add 13 new buses to its STAR fleet by May. In many cases, according to Executive Director Stephen Bland, the new vehicles will replace unreliable, older buses that are out of service as much as 80 percent of the time.

While CDTA uses 32 buses for STAR, a typical day finds 22 or fewer in service, according to Bland. With the new additions, CDTA hopes to raise that average to 31.

"That will be the next quality improvement, and we think it will be the most important one of the last year and a half," Basile said.

The FTA has not yet scheduled a date for a four-day, on-site review in Albany. Agency spokesman Paul Griffo said that, in addition to the site visit, FTA typically conducts interviews and requests transit agency records for review.

After the CDTA visit, FTA officials estimated it could be another six months before their report is released. The reports generally include detailed assessments of response times, fares, hours of service and other aspects of transit for the disabled, and highlight any problems that may limit service. They also may include recommendations for addressing deficiencies