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4/19/00, 12:02 pmc

MATA again fails to publish a MATAplus Rider's Guide

Although MATA admits that the Rider's Guide is packed with errors, they represent the "content" as accurate. But even a novice reader can pick out the inconsistencies in the rough copy.

In a bazaar attempt to show the MATA board of commissioners that MATAplus is doing something to inform customers about the service, MATA delivered a handful of the flawed Rider's Guides. The point the incomplete supply of Rider's Guides makes most clearly is that MATA is failing to do their job.

Most industries would be embarrassed to have their name on such a collection of errors. You need to see it to believe it.

The content errors of MATA’s bogus Rider’s Guide are very serious. Most critically, MATA has maliciously violated the public trust by unilaterally changing the content. MATA drafted a Rider's Guide and held a public hearing in June of 1999 to get the public's input on the draft to be published before September of last year. MATA then presented an updated draft and gave the public only 3 days to suggest changes.

But MATA materially changed the content of the Rider's Guide without any public input. On page 11 they slipped in a sentence that seems to suggest they can change an individual's reservation time an hour from when it was made. That erroneous sentence, although actually nonsense, was never reviewed by the public. It demonstrates why the public does not trust MATA administration.

MATA also forgot to remove a segment from the Atlanta Transit System Rider's Guide that was used in early drafts, as well as a section of the appeals process that conflicts with itself. Although the "content" of these descriptions are negligible, they are included in the Rider's Guide simply because MATA administration has not taken the time to understand the paratransit system.

- Tim Wheat

The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org 

MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency

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