Frustration with paratransit system continues » Urban Milwaukee

Frustration with the county’s transportation services for people with disabilities boiled over during a public meeting Wednesday.

Some members of the paratransit task force have expressed their frustrations with ongoing problems with the county’s paratransit service, Transit Plus.

Since 2023, Milwaukee County’s Transit Plus program has been operated through the French multinational transportation company TransDev. Until now the company had a bad reputation, according to the ridersand based on comments at the task force meeting, the same problems persist: hours-long commutes over short distances, late appointments and missed appointments.

Fran Moussidirector of paratransit services for MCTS, told the task force that TransDev, on average, has seen some improvements in on-time appointments and fewer missed appointments. All the evidence suggests TransDev is “moving in the right direction,” Mussi said.

Kevin Fortuneparatransit task force member, was not satisfied with Mussi’s assessment. Based on his personal experience and conversations with other riders, TransDev continues to provide substandard service, and he believes MCTS needs to do a better job of holding the company accountable.

“The stats and stuff sound good,” Fortune said. “But I drive it every day. Overall the situation is not improving.”

Fortune said he doesn’t think transit officials are good stewards of taxpayer dollars and asked what the plan is to improve service, noting that riders have had problems doing so for years.

It’s a “continuous process” to improve paratransit service to meet rider expectations, he said. Donna Brown-MartinDirector of the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT).

It’s possible that MCTS’s complaint process doesn’t cover all problems with the service, he said. Kevin Meyersanother member of the task force. He noted that he has spoken with paratransit riders who have become so frustrated with the complaint process that they no longer report problems.

Same-day paratransit ready to expand

In August, MCTS launched a new on-demand paratransit taxi service called Transit-Plus Same Day Pilot, which is being tested as a possible replacement for the former paratransit taxi program.

Unlike regular Transit Plus, trips do not need to be planned 24 hours in advance. Instead, they can be called digital, like Uber or Elevator drive.

The program has limited funding (about US$1 million) and there were initial concerns that the program would be overwhelmed by demand. But so far, passenger traffic is much lower than expected.

The program is designed to provide 50 to 100 rides per week, but currently provides an average of 10 to 15 rides, Mussi said. The task forced us to discuss options for increasing passenger traffic.

“We’re paying for a service,” Mussi said. “I would like people to be able to use the service we pay for.”

The task force considered expanding the referrals available through this service. To save resources, MCTS emphasized that they don’t want riders to use it for trips that can be scheduled in advance through Transit Plus, like at some outlets.

Another idea would be to automatically enroll all Transit Plus riders in the pilot on the same day and have them fill out a registration form after their first ride.