Santa Clara County has been responsible for providing paratransit services for Sunnyvale residents since 1994 in accordance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Council directed staff to evaluate how well the county has defined, measured and met its established service levels for Sunnyvale residents. This report is intended to answer these questions.

The ADA legislation defines the minimum acceptable service levels for paratransit services, and the County is required to maintain the same service level throughout the County. While the County tracks some ridership data by city, most of its evaluation and measurement is done with the County as a whole and is not specific to Sunnyvale.

The ADA required full compliance with the paratransit legislation by July 1997. Not only has the County met that goal and their paratransit program is in full compliance, but also the County has gone beyond the minimum requirements to offer additional enhancements. The County uses a "one-broker" system, with OUTREACH & Escort, Inc. as its broker, and OUTREACH maintains a strong on-time record and has numerous tools in place to ensure standards and customer satisfaction are met. Application and enrollment of Sunnyvale residents has disproved fears that significant numbers of Sunnyvale residents formerly served by the City’s own program would be denied eligibility in the County’s program. There is roughly the same number of Sunnyvale residents enrolled in the County program at this time as were enrolled in the City program.

The Housing and Human Services Commission had an informational presentation at its May 26, 1999, meeting. The Commission expressed support for the County’s paratransit program, considering it to be generally of high quality. Commission raised concerns only about the length of time for a person to become enrolled after completing an application, and also expressed concerns about the complexity of the application itself.

Staff believes the County is meeting its established service levels well and recommends that Council accept this report as written and direct staff to take no further action regarding paratransit matters.

From 1974-1994, the City provided transportation services to its older adults and disabled residents, with costs offset by General Fund subsidy, Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds, and reduced transportation fees for participants. Sunnyvale’s program was open to all residents 62 years and older, regardless of disability, as well as anyone with a permanent disability. In 1990, however, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed into law, and the County of Santa Clara was then required to provide paratransit service to individuals with disabilities unable to use the County’s existing fixed-route bus and light rail transit system. TDA funds were also then only provided to the County. Santa Clara County adopted a "one-broker" system, and assumed all costs associated with providing paratransit services. The County’s program is administered by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency (VTA). The VTA has contracted with OUTREACH & Escort, Inc. (OUTREACH) to provide paratransit services.

Through the ADA legislation, any residents of Santa Clara County are eligible for paratransit service whose temporary or permanent disabilities prevent their independent use of bus or light rail facilities and vehicles. There are no age or income limitations. Trips through paratransit can be used for any purpose. An applicant, regardless of age, will be determined eligible for the County program if any of the following three conditions are met:

1. Applicant is unable to independently board or disembark, identify correct vehicle or stop, maintain balance on the vehicle, understand directions needed to complete a trip, wait 5 minutes at a stop, or perform any of the usual tasks associated with using the bus and light rail services; Or
2. The bus service is not accessible to the applicant, e.g., the applicant requires lift-assisted boarding, but the bus lift cannot be deployed at the stop the applicant uses; Or
3. Applicant is unable to travel independently to or from the bus or light rail stops.

Sunnyvale transitioned to this one-broker system (with OUTREACH becoming the City’s paratransit provider) in July 1994, since the City was no longer able to receive TDA funds and because the City’s efforts in this area would have duplicated the County’s program.

Councilmember Fowler raised this item as a Study Issue for 1998 after hearing complaints about the County’s transportation program as well as requests for reinstatement of the City’s former paratransit program. The issue was ranked by Council for study in 1998, but fell below the cut-off line and was therefore reconsidered for 1999. The Parks and Recreation Commission ranked this item No. 6 out of 10 issues. City Council ranked this item No. 2 out of 8 issues ranked for 1999 (please see Attachment A - Study Issue Paper).

Goal: 5.1H Identify pressing health and social needs of the Sunnyvale community, encouraging appropriate agencies to address these needs in an adequate and timely manner. (Socio-Economic Sub-Element)

Action Statement 5.1H.3f Continue to provide transportation services for seniors. (Socio-Economic Element)

Policy 5.1H.9 Encourage programs and services that address the special needs of the disabled population and assure that disabled individuals have access to services. (Socio-Economic Element)

Policy R1.8 Support statewide, regional, and subregional efforts that provide for an effective transportation system. (Land Use and Transportation Element)

Action Statement R1.8.4 Support efforts to plan and implement effective inter-jurisdictional transportation facilities. (Land Use and Transportation Element)

Action Statement C3.5.6 Support an efficient and effective paratransit service and transportation facilities for people with special transportation needs. (Land Use and Transportation Element)

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is responsible for provision of a paratransit program as defined by Sec. 37.131 of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s "Service criteria for complementary paratransit" (please see Attachment B). Essentially, the VTA is required to meet certain minimum requirements, of which the main ones are:

• Provide service to origins and destinations within corridors with a width three-fourths of a mile on each side of each of VTA’s fixed routes.
• Provide service if a reservation has been made at least the previous day.
• Make reservation service available during at least all normal business hours of the entity’s administrative offices, as well as during times, comparable to normal business hours, on a day when the entity’s offices are not open before a service day.
• Shall not require an ADA paratransit eligible individual to schedule a trip to begin more than one hour before or after the individual’s desired departure time.
• The fare for a trip shall not exceed twice the fare that would be charged to an individual paying full fare for a trip of similar length, at a similar time of day, on VTA’s fixed route system.
• Shall not impose restrictions or priorities based on trip purpose.
• Shall be available throughout the same hours and days as the VTA’s fixed route service.
• May not place restrictions on the number of trips each person may take.

In contracting with OUTREACH to broker its paratransit services, VTA has planned for provision of services which are not required by ADA, such as open returns or will calls, return of second vehicle and same day service. In addition, the VTA, through OUTREACH, provides service area coverage to all parts of the county, regardless of whether the VTA has a fixed route service to that area.

The VTA, through its broker OUTREACH, surpasses the minimums established by the ADA. OUTREACH provides paratransit services 365 days a year. Clients may schedule rides 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including holidays. OUTREACH allows clients to schedule rides up to 14 days in advance and a minimum of one day in advance. It is possible to schedule "subscription" rides, for a standard, recurring event, so that the client does not need to call in for each ride. Clients may ride from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, including holidays. Clients may ride 24 hours a day along select routes as designated by the VTA. After close of broker business hours, clients riding from 5:01 p.m. to 7:59 a.m. can contact the vendor directly regarding the status of their scheduled ride. All vendors are contracted to have on-duty personnel to field such calls from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. There are no restrictions placed on trip distance within the service level. A client may schedule a ride through the broker that connects with paratransit service in other counties, and the broker will make all arrangements. The cost of a one-way ride at this time is $2.20. It is scheduled to increase this summer to $2.50. This is consistent with the ADA legislation that allows providers to charge double the cost of a standard fare.

Service will be provided within a half-hour window of the desired pick up time (15 minutes before to 15 minutes after). Vehicles are authorized to wait up to 5 minutes past the scheduled pick-up time before departing.

OUTREACH has an active Client Advisory Council consisting of a minimum of 15 clients from the Paratransit Program and other VTA programs. OUTREACH’s Client Advisory Council meets quarterly or more often, as needed. It reviews proposed changes, reports problems, brainstorms solutions and makes recommendations for service improvements internal to OUTREACH. The members are available to solicit and respond to direct feedback from paratransit program clients.

OUTREACH performs a daily consumer satisfaction survey to monitor the quality of vendor and broker service of active clients who just completed a trip. The data from this survey is aggregated and analyzed and reported to the VTA, OUTREACH’s Board of Directors, and the vendor management.

Quality Assurance Specialists actively conduct a standardized Vehicle and Maintenance Inspection Program.

OUTREACH uses a system of unannounced random inspections to observe vendor vehicles during normal operating procedures. OUTREACH has the authority to order a vehicle removed from service if necessary repairs are not made.

OUTREACH has a formal training program that is mandatory for vendor drivers and dispatchers. Training is geared to the specific type of vehicles and clients to be served and includes lecture, slide, discussion sessions and a practicum session. OUTREACH also provides vendor management with program and operational training.

Vendor Performance Standards

OUTREACH has defined penalties and bonuses for vendors based on performance standards. These standards include:

• On-time performance;
• Average customer ride time;
• Average time on hold;
• Preventable accidents;
• Wheelchair lift availability;
• Customer complaints;
• Customer complaint response and resolution; and
• Drivers wait the requisite grace period.

The "Triennial Performance Audit of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority – Final Audit Report" released in June 1998, evaluated a four year period from 1994 to 1998 for paratransit services. Among the findings for the program on a whole, the number of denials of client applications for eligibility went down significantly, with an overall denial rate going from approximately 14 to 8 percent of total enrollment. On-time rate, measured by percent of pickups within 15 minutes of schedule remained consistent throughout the audit period at 98 percent. (Please see Attachment C - Excerpts from Triennial Performance Audit of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, June 1998.)

Separate from any audits conducted, OUTREACH tracks ridership and complaints. Ridership data is collected by city, but complaint data is not. OUTREACH does not have data on the origin of complaints, or how many are from Sunnyvale. (Please see Attachment D - Customer Service Summary for Paratransit Services and Attachment E - 3^rd Quarter (FY) Transportation Client Survey Report – (January – March 1999.) The complaint/concern summary shows a high of 135 concerns received in a three-month period. During that same time period, 133,025 rides were provided, so concerns averaged 1% of all services. Client satisfaction surveys also show consistently high ratings of 90% or above.

The City of Sunnyvale does not track concerns with paratransit services – all concerns are referred directly to OUTREACH. The City has helped facilitate discussion when the concern revolves around an understanding of the service provided and how to best use the service. Over the years staff has heard anecdotally about problems with OUTREACH, but these concerns have not been documented. It is possible that OUTREACH’s complaint totals underrepresent issues with its service if significant numbers of people do not report their concerns to OUTREACH. However, OUTREACH also cannot respond to concerns it has not heard, and appears to have sound and broad reaching systems for soliciting and responding to issues that make reporting such concerns easy for the customer.

OUTREACH receives an annual funding allocation through the City from Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBG) in order to subsidize the fare cost to low income citizens in Sunnyvale. The City just considered the allocation for FY1999/00 in the amount of $15,080, consistent with past allocations. Staff evaluations of this service show OUTREACH consistently meeting or surpassing all of the program goals. Council is scheduled to take action on this request on June 15, 1999.

Initially there was concern that a number of Sunnyvale residents who currently were registered in the City program would not qualify for the County paratransit program. However, nearly 100% of those residents qualified for the new program and so the City determined it was not necessary to conduct a secondary paratransit service. Based on the application process of self certification that is still used today, there is no apparent need for secondary paratransit service at this time.

With the switch to the County paratransit program, there were a number of changes for participants, some perceived as positive and some negative. Under the "new" system (since July 1994):

• Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance (a lower service level than the City’s former program), but the number of trips available to qualifying individuals is unlimited (a significantly higher service level). A same day service option has been added this year, at a cost of $12.00 per one-way ride. For short trips, dispatchers may suggest that a cab company will be cheaper, but for those requiring wheelchair lifts, a cab may not be a viable option, regardless of the distance to be traveled;
• Unlike the City’s program, no tickets are required, which is a significant customer service enhancement;
• Individuals are able to travel out of Santa Clara County (a higher service level); and
• The initial cost to participants was lower in the County program than in the City’s program. Cost to participants today, even factoring in a rate increase in July 1999, is competitive, and 50% of what an extended trip in 1992 cost. Tickets are $2.20 (rising to $2.50 July 1, 1999) for each one-way trip anywhere in the County (compared to Sunnyvale’s fees of $2.00 in 1994 for a one way trip to destinations in Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Santa Clara and $5.00 for a one way trip elsewhere in the County)

Approximately 750 of OUTREACH’s active 8,700 clients are from Sunnyvale (measured yearly), and OUTREACH provides approximately 40,000 rides to these individuals each year. Approximately 2,000 Sunnyvale residents have been enrolled as eligible to receive paratransit service. (Please see Attachment F - City of Sunnyvale Outreach ADA Paratransit Ridership Data.) At the time the paratransit program transferred to the County in July 1994, there were approximately 2,100 individuals enrolled in the City program. However, it is not clear how many of those individuals were active participants in the City’s program.

The Housing and Human Services Commission, at its May 26, 1999 meeting, expressed support for the County’s paratransit program, considering it to be generally of high quality. Commission raised concerns only about the length of time for a person to become enrolled after completing an application, and also expressed concerns about the complexity of the application itself. OUTREACH is contractually committed to processing applications within 21 days; however, that information may not be uniformly communicated to prospective clients, according to Commissioners. Further, the Commission noted that even 21 days could prove prohibitive for someone needing emergency transportation as a result of an unexpected illness or disability. OUTREACH responded to this concern by noting that the actual processing time averages 10 business days upon receipt of a completed application. Applications are processed as they are received, and OUTREACH indicated it does not have the ability to expedite processing of individual applications.

The application is one that is required by all nine Bay Area Counties, and has been developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. OUTREACH has no control over the content. OUTREACH will provide assistance in completing the applications and that is noted on the information sheet that accompanies the application, although prospective clients may not realize the availability of this service or feel it pertains to them.

Finally, from a cost perspective, the impact to the City is considerably less than when the City provided paratransit services. While Sunnyvale received an allotment of TDA funds to support the program in the amount of $175,120 in 1992 to support the program, that covered only 47% of the program’s costs. The City recouped approximately 20% of costs or $91,000 through ticket sales, but still contributed 33% or $175,120 in 1991/92 dollars annually to run the program. According to data provided by OUTREACH, in February 1999 alone, the subsidy to Sunnyvale residents for just under 3,000 rides, was over $60,000, not including overhead costs associated with administration of the program and provision of reservation services.

There is no Fiscal Impact of this report at this time. If Council wishes to consider augmenting or providing paratransit services for Sunnyvale residents, costs would be significant. The City is no longer eligible for Transportation Development Act (TDA) funding, and all costs would need to be covered by the City’s general fund and through client fares. Client fares could be expected to cover at most 5 to 10 percent of the City’s costs, and the County’s current annual net cost, not including reservations and administrative costs, is in the neighborhood of $720,000 for services to Sunnyvale residents alone. An unknown liability inherent in the ADA legislation is that agencies providing paratransit services must meet all demand. No restrictions may be placed on the number of clients, the number of rides or the purpose of ride. Agencies may not use lack of funding or vehicles as a reason to deny service to any eligible client.

Copies of this report were provided to the Parks and Recreation Commission as information. The Housing and Human Services Commission had an informational presentation at its May 26, 1999, meeting. A copy was also provided to OUTREACH and to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency Accessible Services. Further, copies were distributed to the City’s two senior clubs, the Sunnyvale Senior Coordinating Council, and the City of Sunnyvale Multi-Purpose Senior Center Advisory Committee. Public notice also occurred through publication and posting of Council Agenda. All reports are available in the Library and on the City’s Internet home page.

3. Other action as determined by Council.

Staff recommends Alternative 1.

Prepared by:

Jenny L. Shain
Assistant to the Director

Reviewed by:

Robert A. Walker
Director, Parks and Recreation

Approved by:

Robert S. LaSala
City Manager