MATA service is the focus of Barrier Free Memphis 

The April Barrier Free Memphis Society meeting used a focus group to measure the changes in MATA service since the Federal Transit Administration Review last year.  Following the Federal Observations, MATA suggested they were making several improvements from increased staffing to new equipment.

The BFMS focus group used the experience of ten riders.  All the riders were “demand-response” customers of MATAplus. Subscription riders were not interviewed.  The frequency of paratransit use by the respondent group was between more than 10 and more than 32 paratransit trips per month. Forty percent of the respondents made more than 8 trips a week.

More than half of the focus group never used the fixed-route bus system and 18 percent used the fixed-route more than once a month. Half said they used paratransit the same this year (April 2000 to April 2001), as the previous year (April 1999 to April 2000). Forty percent said they use paratransit more, while 10 percent thought they used paratransit less.

Respondents were asked about the service from MATA’s phone reservation system.  No one responded that the service had improved since April of 2000.  Forty percent said the service had not appreciably changed since April of 1999 and half said that the service had declined.

Respondents were asked about MATAplus’ on-time performance. Seventy percent said that it had not changed appreciably since April of 1999, while 20 percent said on-time performance had declined.  No one said that performance had improved.

Finally, the focus group was asked if MATA and MATAplus’ ability to meet customer transportation needs were being met.  Ten percent saw improvement in this category, while half reported that ability of MATA to meet customer needs had not changed appreciably since April of 1999. Twenty percent said ability to meet customer needs had declined and 20% did not know.

MATA has never sought independent evaluation of the paratransit system customer service.  Clearly, customers are dissatisfied, however this does not justify MATA burying their heads in the sand.  On the contrary, it makes the assessment of needs more critical to the operation of the paratransit system. BFMS provides the only reliable estimate of where service has improved and where change is most critically needed.

Although MATA has spent money on a new phone system, it seems clear by customer experience that the new equipment has not been effective at improving service.  This is not to say that the new equipment is not functioning properly or that the phone system could not potentially improve service. The current phone system has not made a reasonable change in MATA service as anticipated by MATA executives in their responses to the observations made by the FTA.

Because of the results of this focus group and because of compelling accounts of long hold times, BFMS will concentrate on the phone system at MATA over the next few months.  BFMS members have already identified a technique believed to be used by MATA phone operators to make the hold times look less extended.  The MATA agents may take the customer briefly off hold and then instantly put them back on hold. The phone record will then not note the full time of the customers wait, but will divide up the customer’s wait with how many times MATA agents flashed customers on hold.

-Tim Wheat