Riders with disabilities say MTA’s new paratransit system leaves them stranded

The Maryland Transit Administration rolled out a new system for certain people with disabilities to schedule on-demand rides this week, including a proprietary mobile application the agency said would centralize booking and make the service easier to manage.

But, after a week of drivers not showing up, technical failures and scheduling mishaps, many who rely on the service are calling the rollout a disaster.

MTA made the change to its Call-A-Ride service, which provides on-demand transportation, similar to rideshares such as Uber and Lyft, for people with disabilities. About 17,000 people used it last year, the MTA said.

It relies on several contractors, including basic sedan services and companies with vehicles that are wheelchair accessible, and costs users $3 for most rides.

Many people rely on the service for daily life, and it frees the larger, MTA-branded paratransit vans for the highest-need riders.

Call-A-Ride users told The Banner the new system that launched Monday resulted in them scrambling to find rides to work and missed school pickups. Advocates worry about more serious consequences and said the disruptions caused some users to miss medical appointments.

“This is not an inconvenience for us. This is critical infrastructure, a necessary part of our daily lives,” said Ronza Othman, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. “When the system fails, it jeopardizes our health and safety. But, when it fails as spectacularly as this one did, it adds insult to injury.”

Courtney Mims, spokesperson for the MTA, wrote in an email that the new system will provide better program oversight, improved access to trip information and more data the agency can use to address issues.

Users experiencing trouble with the mobile app or who cannot get through to the call center can call 469-754-7433 for assistance with an automated agent, or send a text message to 410-682-7433 to book a ride, Mims added.

Mims’ statement, however, did not address specific concerns and issues that riders told The Banner they are experiencing and that The Banner then shared with the MTA.

The new Call-A-Ride system aims to make more wheelchair-accessible vehicles available on demand — a welcome and important improvement, wrote Gabriel Rubinstein, managing attorney of Disability Rights Maryland. However, he’s alarmed by the stories he’s heard this week and said disruptions “must be addressed immediately.”

Under the old system, users scheduled trips directly with specific providers such as Wav and Uzurv, which have proprietary mobile applications or call centers to manage their rides and communicate directly with an assigned driver.

As of Monday, users must book rides through a new, proprietary MTA mobile app or by calling a centralized call center.

Problems piled up quickly.

Chris Danielsen’s ride to work Monday morning never showed up. When Danielsen, who lives in downtown Baltimore, called to ask what was going on, he said he was connected with an AI agent that couldn’t help. He eventually asked to cancel the ride, which the agent couldn’t do, and was put into a call queue with a wait time that exceeded an hour.

Before, when Danielsen booked rides directly through his preferred company, it would give him an exact arrival time and vehicle information, and he could communicate directly with the driver. The new app provides a 30-minute pickup window, can’t track the vehicle and doesn’t allow for direct driver communication, he said.

Othman said the new app is difficult for assistive technology such as screen readers to navigate.

The update meant to make the system more efficient has shut out those it serves, she said.

Marguerite Woods of Northwest Baltimore had rides scheduled this week to pick her up at 8 a.m. for a 9 a.m. technology class. She said she was taking the class to help her advocacy work making local art galleries more accessible to people with disabilities.

Around 9 a.m. Monday, after a ride never showed up, she called to cancel. A car arrived at her house around 9:40 a.m. anyway, she said, after she had taken a traditional rideshare to her class.

Woods, 74, lives on a fixed income and said paying for rideshares isn’t a sustainable option for her. She’s pivoted to the MTA’s traditional MobilityLink vans, which also cost $3 per ride but are significantly slower, she said.

Many questioned why the MTA changed the system. Some said the old way of scheduling wasn’t perfect but was reliable, while others said they never had issues with it.

Rothman said the MTA took a working system and “put a hammer to it.” This week, she formally requested the MTA revert to the old scheduling system until the problems with the new one are resolved.

Under the old system, the companies providing rides submitted invoices to MJM Innovations, a private company contracted by the MTA to manage the Call-A-Ride program.

The MTA’s Mims said this made oversight of the program difficult and limited the agency’s ability to address issues.

MJM Innovations, which manages the call center, the new mobile app and the system’s rollout in coordination with the MTA, could not be reached for comment.

Reverting to the old system isn’t an option due to contract issues, Mims added.

The Call-A-Ride contract, approved by the state in August, spans five years at a value of up to $274.5 million.