Dial-A-Ride: Eureka service takes people where they need to go

Eureka council to explore Dial-A-Ride issues

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I went to see if they really are ogres. I didn't find anything but people doing their best to do a difficult job. Some days, some times, they do an extraordinary job. Most days they do a good one. Sometimes they flub badly. Just like the rest of us. Sometimes when they fail we get bent out of shape. Sometimes it's justified. Sometimes it's not. I spent two hours there, talking and watching. I left wishing we could all sit down and talk as they and I talked. I also left glad that they had the job-I couldn't do it.

Randy, whose dispatching voice is known to all of us who use Dial-A-Ride, sits at a desk with a phone that was not silent three minutes in a row. Sometimes it seemed the calls were lined up, just waiting for the one before to end. He has three places every call must be logged in. One is a duplicate log, one goes to City Hall. Then there's a separate sheet for every driver. They're spread at the top of the desk. Six of them. There's also an unending roll of paper that gets every destination and address written on it. They get crossed off after a cab is dispatched. There's a phone for incoming calls and a mike that goes out to all the cabs. We riders know that one well. Somehow, Randy, or Tarah or Gary or Gene keep a mental picture of every cab's location.

Calls often go out in bunches. Seldom does a cab only take one person. That's for efficiency in transporting. The trick is to get several riders coming from the same area going to a similar location. If not available, the dispatchers wait to send a cab out. That's when we sit at Waremart and wait for an hour. It seems a lose-lose situation. Riders are often tired and want to go home. Dispatchers are failing to move people both quickly and efficiently. Tempers fray. Everyone knows "be right there" means at least 30 to 60 minutes.

I asked everyone in the office what they wanted from the riders. "Patience" was the unanimous answer. Then came, "More time between call and pick-up, 15 minutes isn't enough time. (Dial-A-Ride rules specify an hour). And, "Please be ready." Get ready when you call. Sometimes people are picked up early in order to fill a cab. and have to ride awhile before being taken to their destinations. People who are late make others after them late, and even one wait of ten or 15 minutes can start a string of missed appointments.

What is Dial-A-Ride?

Dial-A-Ride is sponsored by the City of Eureka as a door-to-door service for people unable to take public transportation. The cost is partly paid by tickets riders buy, partly by city transportation funds. Riders pay $8 for 10 tickets.

Some of the rules it operates under are sensible, easy to understand the reason for. Some aren't. And some create problems. For instance:

* the dividing line for the four zones runs down the middle of the street. Across the street requires another ticket, four for a round trip. On limited incomes, several times a month, that adds up to another book of tickets, often unaffordable. The solution riders use is to get out on the side of the street in the zone they're in and walk across the street. Dial-A-Ride isn't happy about that. They are not able to insure safe delivery of people who often have trouble walking. If both sides of dividing streets were included from either direction there'd be fewer possible accidents, and no one would be breaking rules.

* Sometimes several riders are picked up early and ride around while others are being dropped off. If you're picked up 30 minutes early, you're likely not ready. Maybe some printed policies would help riders understand how their cooperation is needed.

* Often, drop-offs don't match the order you're picked up in. Dial-A-Ride's priorities are clear. Medical appointments come first. Getting you there on time is very important to them. Then come grocery stops. The point could be made that every trip is important to the person taking it. But some priorities are necessary, and medical appointments are tops.

* The number of bags of groceries you can take is often not realistic. Even one more - increasing it to four - would help greatly. It also would save bags too heavy to carry.

Solving problems

Myrtice Aronson, the office manager, wants riders to know she's always ready to hear problems and complaints, and will check them out. Contrary to riders concerns, Dial-A-Ride can't refuse to transport anyone because they've made a complaint. That happens only if a rider endangers someone else's well-being.

Marie Liscom supervises the city's part of Dial-A-Ride. The service is subcontracted to Skip Arnold who owns Yellow Cab. Any major changes must be approved by the City Council.

For Fiscal Year 96-97 we took 45,261 rides. There is no way some things won't go wrong with that volume. The numbers for the first half of '97/98 promise at least that many rides this year.

Fares haven't been raised in 10 years. That's a minor miracle, considering other price increases.

I often wondered, as I gathered information, whether it would help if there was a community advisory group whose purpose was just to do PR and investigate problems. It might ease the problem of feeling at the mercy of an uncontrollable, but vital, force. It might be a means of promoting understanding between two sometimes disparate groups.

Truly, riders would be hard put to maintain independent mobility without Dial-A-Ride, and most are quick to acknowledge it. But without riders there would be no Dial-A-Ride.

One-time article Copyright 1998 by Humboldt Senior Resource Center.