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NJ Transit's service for disabled riders sees the most late trips since 2017
By
Karen Yi
Published Mar 29, 2023
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NJ Transit Access Link promotional video
By
Karen Yi
Published Mar 29, 2023
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NJ Transit says it’s still in the “planning and development phase” of work to meet a series of federally set deadlines that begin in June to improve its Access Link services for people with disabilities — even as the number of late trips in 2022 reached its highest point since at least 2017.
In 2022, more than 15% of rides arrived late, double the rate from 2017, according to ridership data obtained by Gothamist through a public records request. Last year was also one of the busiest in several years for drivers, with each Access Link driver averaging a total of about 2,400 trips — about 100 more than the year before.
The numbers underscore the gap NJ Transit has to cover in order to comply with a settlement it reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in December, after a federal investigation found drivers dropped passengers off late nearly 40% of the time during a one-month review period. It also found about 13% of pickups were late, and about 25% of trips were “excessively long.”
Paratransit advocates have long argued that to fix long-standing complaints with Access Link, the state will need to invest significantly in hiring more drivers and partnering with rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to relieve pressure on the service.
Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman, said it was too early to quantify the investment needed to improve Access Link. But he said NJ Transit was considering partnerships with other transportation companies that include rideshare services.
“The task of redeveloping and restructuring paratransit service is an extremely complex undertaking,” Smith said in an email. “We are currently in the planning and development phase of this project. As we work through the project phases, any necessary changes will be enacted.”
The settlement requires that by June, Access Link ensures 88% of pickups happen within a 30-minute window of their scheduled time every month, and no more than 2% of trips are missed every month.
It additionally sets one- and two-year milestones, such as making sure no more than 10% of rides are excessively long after 24 months. If it fails to meet certain measures, federal officials could file a civil action against the agency.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the settlement that Access Link had “capacity constraints that significantly limit the availability of service” for people with disabilities.
When asked if the agency expected to meet the initial deadline, Smith said it were “working as diligently as possible.”
Connor Shaw, political director for the United Service Workers Union that represents drivers, said NJ Transit needs to invest in hiring more drivers and increase wages. Shaw said many drivers are forced to work mandatory overtime to cover the routes.
“You're not going to provide higher quality unless you stop forcing these drivers on the road so long,” he said. “Drivers are usually now picking up multiple patients along the route more than they used to because there's not enough drivers to backfill the demand, so their trips might be two or three times longer because they're having to make extra stops along the way that are out of what would be the usual route.”
Shaw said paratransit drivers are among the lowest-paid workers with commercial driver’s licenses in New Jersey. Pay for Access Link drivers starts at $21 an hour, he said. Most current listings for school bus drivers on Indeed.com in New Jersey advertise higher rates — some over $30 per hour.
NJ Transit subcontracts its drivers from Easton Coach and First Transit, neither of which have yet returned requests for comment made last week. Last year both companies received $65 million from NJ Transit, records show.
Shaw said Access Link drivers have to work with a vulnerable population who are taking trips to chemotherapy or dialysis appointments and often need help getting into the vehicle. They don’t drive on fixed routes and not all their customers can verbalize if there are issues with the drop-off or pickup location.
As drivers take on more rides, Shaw said, it makes sense that late trips are also increasing.
“It’s not picking people up at a bus stop. It's a little bit more entailed,” Shaw said. “They're literally carrying them on their wheelchair into the bus, so it is a difficult job and it's a job that, you know, frankly, might get overlooked.”
Smith, from NJ Transit, attributed late trips partially to driver availability and customers not showing up for their rides. He said customer no-shows increased by more than 32% from 2020 to 2022.
“These are trips where the operator arrives on time and has to wait for a customer that does not show up for that trip. This process can take at least 10 minutes, as the operator has to confirm information before leaving. Many times there are other customers onboard as this verification process occurs,” he said.
Access Link had nearly 700 drivers in 2019, but that number dropped by hundreds during the pandemic. The numbers have started ticking back up: The service had 529 drivers at the end of 2022, up from 481 in 2021 — a 10% increase.
Yet the increase in drivers is still lagging behind the increase in demand. There were 16% more trips requested in 2022 than the year before, and 15% more trips completed.
Smith said providers had “aggressively addressed manpower issues to recruit and retain operators,” including by increasing wages and providing hiring and referral bonuses. He didn’t provide specific pay figures.
There have been some gains for drivers. Last month, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to pay Access Link drivers time-and-a-half when the state issues commercial vehicle travel restrictions such as during bad weather.
Sheila Graham, a 10-year Access Link driver and union steward, said that was crucial, as drivers are sometimes still on the road if emergency restrictions are declared and they have to return customers back to their homes. During an October snowstorm in 2018, Graham said, drivers were stuck on the roads for hours and in some cases didn’t make it home until the next day.
“We had busloads of persons who go to adult daycare, adult training centers, who we had to get back home. Our drivers had these people in the vehicles for four and five hours. Then once you dropped those people off, you had to get back to the base. Not all of our employees have their own transportation, so we need public transportation. But public transportation is shut down. So how do we get home?” she said.
The extra pay, she said, will offset extra hours at the day care for their children and the risks of driving during road closures.
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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