People with disabilities issue report card on Metro Transit’s progress, revealing failing grades and calling for change.
(ST. LOUIS, MO)……Members of the STL Metropolitan Alliance for Reliable Transit (S.M.A.R.T.) today issued a report card to Bi-State Development’s Metro Transit. The report card was revealed in a press conference at the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired at 8770 Manchester Road, St. Louis, MO 63144.
Robyn Wallen, Transportation Chair for the Missouri Council of the Blind, and a S.M.A.R.T. leader said, “Unfortunately Metro presently has failing grades in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), meaningful engagement with people with disabilities, and customer experience, and an incomplete in the category of keeping promises. We do note improvement in some areas over the past year, however, and we are sharing our ideas for how Metro can progress to passing grades.”
S.M.A.R.T. leader Etefia Umana offered Metro’s score on ADA compliance which was an F. “The Operations Report of the Metro Board of Commissioners for November, 2023, showed nearly 7,000 rides were denied,” Umana said. “The ADA does not allow patterns of denials, and the standard is the standard.”
Metro’s grade for “meaningful engagement with people with disabilities” was a D. S.M.A.R.T. member Seyoon Choi, a 23-year-old university student who is blind and a daily Metro Transit user said that Metro could improve its grade in this category by doing the following:
Expanding and empowering its ADA Advisory Committee so that people with disabilities have a more powerful voice within Metro
Hold Bi-State Development Board meetings in publicly accessible locations and take public testimony
Involve people with disabilities in every level of program planning, implementation, and evaluation
“Nothing should happen about us without us,” said Choi, quoting a family slogan of the Independent Living Movement.
Barbara Sheinbein, a S.M.A.R.T. leader who is blind and who volunteers in multiple community organizations, explained the “Incomplete” grade awarded in the category of “keeping promises.” Sheinbein said, “A new phone system has been unveiled, but it has received mixed review. It will be expanded in May, so judging it now is premature.”
Sheinbein added, “Updated software has been promised, but may not be in use until the end of this year or even 2025. Likewise, an ADA consultant has been hired, and we were pleased with his visit with S.M.A.R.T. on January 25th. But his report has yet to be made publicly available, and we will be watching to see if Metro implements his recommendations.”
In a final category, “customer experience,” Metro rated a D+ grade. Duane Gruis, a man with a disability who uses Call-A-Ride daily to get to his job as a “family navigator” with a not-for-profit serving people with disabilities explained this grade. “Some improvement in communication has been noted, and we appreciate that, but overall, Metro’s paratransit services are still unreliable and difficult to use. The professionalism of staff is uneven, and I have sometimes been treated rudely by operators. The phone system is time-consuming and frustrating.”
S.M.A.R.T. selected March 7 for the release of their first Metro report card for two reasons:
March 7 is four months from November 7, the date that Bi-State CEO Taulby Roach made promises to the County Council related to updated software, improved phone service, and a contract with an ADA consultant (Jess Segovia, “the ADA Guru”).
One year ago, on March 7, Metro held a public meeting at University of Missouri St. Louis to explain significant route cuts that would be implemented on April 10. People with disabilities had difficulty attending this meeting due to inadequate advance notice and denials of rides to the meeting by Call-A-Ride.
S.M.A.R.T. plans to periodically issue report cards to help the public know whether people with disabilities are experiencing improvement in their access to necessary transportation.
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