“With the mask mandate lifted, Access-A-Ride users face the unimaginable choice between risking their lives to simply get where they need to get or going back to isolating themselves in their homes.”
The MTA plans to limit the number of trips Access-a-Ride users can take under a popular pilot program that allows them to book rides on-demand. Those changes will take effect by the end of the month, an MTA spokesman said.
Disabled riders urged officials not to ration service for a pilot program that allows them to hail yellow and green taxis immediately via an app.
Starting May 30, wheelchair-accessible AAR vans with four or more passengers will able to utilize dedicated bus lanes, an effort to speed up trips on the oft-criticized service.
The Department of Transportation is considering a proposal to let some Access-a-Ride (AAR) vehicles utilize the city’s bus lanes — an effort to speed up trips for users, who complain the service is painstakingly slow.
In an effort to improve the AAR program, the MTA began offering e-hail services to users in 2016, allowing them to reserve trips in taxis or for-hire vehicles instead of the traditional blue and white AAR cars.
One of the MTA’s proposed fare hike options would raise the base fare to $3 a ride, which Access-a-Ride users say would unfairly burden them since they aren’t eligible for the MetroCard bonuses that subway and bus riders are.
Complaints include drivers who are poorly trained and service that is slow and inefficient, regularly making users late for work and other engagements.
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