DETROIT (WXYZ) — In a press conference on Thursday, Mayor Duggan authorized emergency contracts in order to continue 1,000 daily rides for the disabled community.
Duggan approved four emergency six-month transportation contracts. Four paratransit providers will provide transportation for disabled riders daily starting January 1.
The action was taken to comply with federal concerns regarding potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A bidding process for long-term paratransit providers will be opened by the city.
“With today’s actions, all of DDOT’s paratransit clients will be assured uninterrupted service,” Duggan said. “Starting next year, DDOT will use its own staff to book reservations and provide follow-up customer service. I expect our clients to see steady improvement in the quality and reliability of the service in the first half of 2023.”
The Federal Transit Authority sent letters on November 17 and November 30 which indicated that if the city failed to provide this service it would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and could lead to serious consequences.
The four transit providers awarded the 6-month emergency contracts are:
- Moe Transportation
- Big Star Transit
- Checker Cab Company
- Delray United Action Council
“Our costs for 6 months have risen from $4.7 million under the contracts previously submitted to $5.8 million for the emergency contracts,” said DDOT Director Mikel Oglesby. “We knew it would be more expensive to do rapid, emergency contracts, but that was far less costly than the federal penalties DDOT was facing if we didn’t act.”
How the new system will work
Riders will still call 313-208-7363 to access paratransit services. DDOT employees will answer those calls at their offices on Warren Avenue. These employees are trained specifically to handle all paratransit-related eligibility screening, scheduling, dispatch, call center and customer service operations.
Riders are being asked to be patient during the transition.
“In everything we do, we are putting the needs of our paratransit riders first and want to make this transition as smooth as possible,” said Oglesby. “We are asking for everyone’s patience as we make this transition to new providers and bring many of the support services in-house. There may be a few bumps at first, but we really believe that our riders will see a significant improvement in service quality and reliability very soon.”
