Not being able to make a reservation, being denied a trip, or never getting a call back.
According to a Memphis grassroots group for people with disabilities those are the issues facing MATA Plus riders.
The complaints started in February.
MATA Plus is a transportation service for people disabilities.
A consumer advocate with the Memphis Center for Independent living said they typically get 1 or 2 complaints a week, but then they saw about a dozen over the course of one week.
“It’s very frustrating because it’s some of the same concerns that have been raised for many years by riders and to know that the same reasons why they’re not getting fixed exist is discouraging,” said Christina Clift, consumer advocate with Memphis Center for Independent Living.
MATA’S CEO cited a shortage of qualified bus operators and limited resources. He added they are taking steps to resolve the issues.
“We’ve gotten our call center staffing up to full strength which helps in terms of makes it a lot more convenient for people to be able to make reservations to utilize the service. We’ve deployed some new buses into the program over the last many weeks,” said MATA CEO Gary Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld said they have a plan to hire more bus operators, and they will continue to work until riders are satisfied.
Clift said MATA’s response is a good start but more needs to be done. She went on to say they will continue to be more vocal and present at MATA board and city council meetings.
