Some clients of the Greater Community Aids Project of East Illinois said they have been stranded and mistreated during the past year by Mass Transit District (MTD) paratransit services. 

The organization’s leader said the program needs better customer service and the application process and who qualifies for it are burdensome for their clients. 

“It’s been a continuous struggle to just use the paratransit system in a way that is effective and actually provides transportation,” Darya Shahgheibi, executive director of the project, said in an interview.

She said she had seen a decline in services over the past few years.

The non-profit organization based in Champaign, which has about 15 people in transitional housing and 80 in their emergency assistance programs, provides support services to those living with HIV/AIDS. Shahgheibi said many of its clients are physically disabled and face challenges navigating the community in daily life.

MTD officials said the company had not known of the issues before this November. They found no prior records of complaints about its paratransit service and phone dispatchers. In response to the complaints, officials said they are committed to providing essential transportation services to disabled individuals in the community and have several policies in place to meet their needs.

In November 2023, a client, who requested anonymity for health privacy reasons, was almost left stranded after leaving a doctor’s appointment at Christie Clinic on University Avenue. As a double amputee and someone new to the community without friends or family to help them, the client relied heavily on MTD’s paratransit system. 

Until the day in question, the client said their experience with the service had been “great.” When they needed to get to appointments or other services, they would set up an appointment by phone. Then, the dispatcher would send text messages regarding their ride’s estimated time of arrival both the day before and the day of.

However, the client said Christie Clinic is in a dead zone for cell phone service. 

On that day, the client said they did not receive the text message from the dispatcher telling them of their ride’s arrival after their appointment. When the dispatcher finally reached them over a phone call, the client said, the dispatcher told them that the bus would not wait more than five minutes.

“Instead (of her apologizing), it was like, ‘Well, you should be ready right now,'” the client said in an interview. “And I’m like, ‘Sweetie, I don’t play that game. I don’t care where you’re from.'”

Since then, the client has refused to use the service again.

“It really went all over me,” they said. “It’s like, ‘Listen, I’m not the one at fault here. And you’re being (vulgarity) because your system didn’t do what it was supposed to do.'”

Despite eventually boarding the bus that day, the negative experience left the client emotionally distressed.

“Unfortunately, it made me mad enough when I got home, I did cry over it because I thought if they hadn’t given me that five minutes, I would have been stranded there,” they said.

Shahgheibi also attested to the extent to which the experience affected the client.

“The most notable thing for me was how upset they were,” Shahgheibi said. “They felt like a burden on the community, and I think that was really sad to see because this is a service that’s supposed to support folks so that they don’t feel like that.”

Disabilities Act requires complementary service

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, public transportation that functions via a fixed-route service must be accessible to those with disabilities. Most of the time, fixed-route bus services like MTD are not suitable for individuals with more specialized needs. When it is not, they must provide a complementary paratransit service that ensures accessibility.

The client said they also had been told before by an MTD dispatcher that they were restricted to one round trip ride per day. However, there is no limit to the number of rides a qualifying individual can take on paratransit, according to MTD policy.

“I thought if I’m out, I might as well get all my stuff done at one time if possible, or at least in one day,” the client said. “They’re like ‘No, we’re short on drivers, so it’s one ride per day.'”

Even before this instance, the project and its clients have had issues with the reliability of MTD’s paratransit, according to Shahgheibi. She shared one particular situation two years ago that involved another client who was also denied services after arriving late. 

Shahgheibi said that due to their physical disability, this client had trouble using the notification system on their phone and this resulted in them being left stranded in downtown Champaign.

She said that after missing their ride, the client — who has since passed away due to health complications — fell out of their electric wheelchair when reaching for an item and was left lying on the sidewalk for an hour before a passerby called 911.

“I think he was trying to reach something and fell out of his power chair,” Shahgheibi said. “And (he) was really disappointed because nobody helped him back into his chair. He was there for an hour until somebody called 911 because they thought that he was hurt.”

Concerns brought to MTD and City Council

In May this year, Shahgheibi said she reached out to customer service to voice her concerns. She said she also followed up with a more detailed letter that she sent to MTD in June. 

After not receiving a response, she read parts of the letter at a Champaign City Council meeting in October. At that meeting, Mayor Deb Feinen and council members had been discussing the county’s long-range transportation plan.

“Many of our clients rely on your paratransit services for essential transportation needs, such as medical appointments, care coordination services, and social activities,” Shahgheibi said at the meeting, reading from the letter. “Unfortunately, we have experienced a concerning decline in the accessibility and reliability of service provided by your paratransit program … This not only impacts their ability to access essential services but also leads to feelings of isolation, stress, and depression.”

The letter proposed three solutions: the increased availability of paratransit rides, improved staff training and a more reliable text notification system. 

MTD finally responded

MTD finally acknowledged public concerns about its paratransit over an email sent to Shahgheibi in November. 

According to an email Shahgheibi shared with a reporter, an MTD official said that there were no prior records of anyone receiving the letter she had previously sent or the complaint filed earlier in the year.

“I guess that’s why it felt a little out of left field when you reached out with that letter,” Drew Bargmann, customer service director of MTD, said in an interview. “We hadn’t really heard anything internally about some of those concerns. We hadn’t taken action on them yet because we weren’t aware of them.”

Bargmann said the district does not limit the number of trips someone is able to take with paratransit. He said it also has a “no strand policy” that ensures that an individual is returned home, even if they miss their scheduled departure time.

Bargmann said he is unsure how this misinformation reached the project and its clients.

“Trust me, I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around how that information got to somebody,” he said. “And again, we’d love the opportunity to correct that if that’s the perception that this individual has. We want them to know that that’s not the case, that they can (have) multiple trips a day.” 

Application process said to be problematic

In addition to issues brought up by the Greater Community AIDS Project, others who work with clients who use the paratransit system said both MTD’s application process and the cost are problematic, particularly for people who are already struggling with daily living and live on fixed incomes. 

For instance, people with disabilities must fill out a nine-page application that asks questions about the nature of their disability and also have a professional verify the provided information.

Becca Obuchowski is the executive director of Community Choices, Inc., an organization that supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She said it has become increasingly more difficult over the years to qualify for MTD’s paratransit service.

“It used to be that like pretty much anybody that we worked with who had a developmental disability (or) intellectual disability would be able to qualify,” Obuchowski said. “And now that is becoming less and less the case.” 

Bargmann said once the application is submitted, an individual may either be denied, deemed fully eligible or deemed conditionally eligible. While a fully eligible individual may request a ride as often as they’d like, a conditionally eligible individual may only do so if specific criteria are met.

Participants of the organization have also faced difficulties paying the fare, Obuchowski said. Because many of them only receive a set amount of money per month under Supplemental Security Income, the costs quickly add up.

She said this may especially be the case if an individual is only deemed conditionally eligible for the paratransit service. Under conditional eligibility, an individual must pay $7 per ride. This is a $5 increase from the $2 fare that those who are fully eligible pay.

Bargmann said he reached out to Shahgheibi in late November to schedule an in-person meeting. A few days after meeting with a reporter, Bargmann said they were able to connect with Shahgheibi. As of Dec. 19, they are still working out a date that works for everyone to meet in person.

When asked if any improvements would be made to the paratransit system, Bargmann said there are plans to continue tracking ridership trends and adding extra drivers on days of high ridership. He said the district would also look into handling buildings in the community with no cell service.

“We realize that in both (fixed-route and paratransit) services, without those, some individuals don’t have options,” Bargmann said. “We want to make (those) as positive an experience as we can.”

Meanwhile, the client who was almost left stranded said they now use a personal assistant to get around.

“Fortunately, I have a helper here at the house and she’s able to give me transportation,” the client said. “So, I have not even messed with the paratransit at all (since then).”