SR-506-001-01 (9)
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Council Mtg. 2/19/85
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Santa MonIca, CalIfornia
TO: Mayor and CIty CounCIl
FROM: CIty Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Increase WISE's Paratranslt Program
by S18,040 In order to prOVIde addItIonal taXI services
and vehIcle repaIr.
INTRODUCTION
ThIS report transmIts a reconm~ndatlon to Increase the grant
awarded to WISE's ParatransIt Program by $18,040 In order to pro-
VIde addItIonal taXI serVIces to senIor and dIsabled reSIdents of
the communIty and cover the cost of paratranslt van repaIrs. Ad-
dItIonally, It Introduces pOSSIble paratranslt program Ideas for
1985-86.
BACKGROUND
On June 12, 1984, CIty Council awarded $128,809 of ProposItion A
Funds to WISE for the prOVISIon of a paratranslt program for
senior and dIsabled CItizens of Santa Monica. ThIS program is
deSIgned to meet the needs of those IndIVIduals who are unable to
use conventIonal fIxed route transportatIon. These IndIVIduals
often are not able to get to deSIgnated bus stops and/or are In
need of speCIal aSSIstance both In boardIng and eXItIng. The
program Includes a van serVIce coruponent which operates Monday
through FrIday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for IndIviduals who
who need lift-eqUIpped vehicles and consequently cannot travel by
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car and for group trips and a taxi serVIce component WhIch oper-
ates 24 hours a day, seven days a week for IndivIduals who are
not able to use the conventIonal bus system.
The paratranslt serVIce IS avaIlable to all senior citIzens and
dIsabled citizens who live in Santa MonIca and have gone through
an InItIal screening wIth WISE's Intake workers. As a multI-
serVIce center, WISE is able to screen the potential users of
paratransIt serVIces through the agency's general intake pro-
cedures. In thIS way, any other unmet needs that the IndIvIdual
applIcants may have that are not beIng addressed can be dIrected
to the approprIate serVIce provIder wIthIn WISE or another socIal
serVIce agency.
As a result of cItIzens' con~ents regardIng the long waiting
perIod for cab serVIce, a further assessment was made of the need
for and feaSIbIlIty of Increasing the operating grant of WISE's
paratransIt progranl. The followIng report explaIns the need for
expanded serVIces.
DISCUSSION
(1) Assessment of AdditIonal ServIce Needs
In developIng the paratransIt program for 1984-85, WISE an-
tIcIpated provIdIng approxImately 1@0@ taxI-rIdes per month at an
average fare of $3.00 a trIp. However, at the begInnIng of the
second quarter when WISE's contract WIth the cab company expIred,
WISE was not able to renegotIate thIS rate primarIly because the
cab company had not accurately proJected the amount of tIme each
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cab drIver would need to spend In assistIng the users of thIS
servIce, prIncIpally senIor cItizens. The average fare per trIp
was raIsed to $4.50. ThIS increased cost has forced WISE to cut
back Its serVIce to approXImately 650 rIdes per month in order to
ensure a constant rate of serVIce for the remainder of the year.
Worklng wIth the ExecutIve DIrector of WISE and the agency's
transportatIon staff, CIty staff learned that each week apprOXI-
mately 53 people do not receIve theIr desired rIde. Of these
people, 30 are turned down due to lack of space and 23 receive a
rIde at a dIfferent time and/or day than was orIginally request-
ed. Further, the lead time reqUIred for booking a ride ranges
from seven to twelve days.
WISE estImates that It would need to provIde approXImately 1300
cab trIps per month to fIll the unmet need. This IS apprOXImate-
ly 300 more trips a month than had been projected at the begIn-
nIng of the year and is an apprOXImate 100% increase In service
over what the program IS currently able to provIde gIven the In-
creased cab fare.
In additIon to the cab serVIce, the van serVIce IS an Integral
component of the paratransit program. WISE currently has four
vans, three of WhICh are lIft-equIpped. One van IS predomlnantly
used for transportIng fraIl elderly to and from the Ollve Stone
Center and one IS used as a back-up vehIcle 1n the event of any
breakdowns. As the vehIcles have aged the need for more exten-
SIve repaIrs has Increased. WhIle WISE would prefer to trade-In
or sell these vans and purchase new ones, they are under contract
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w1th the Urban Mass Trans1t Author1ty (UMTA) to reta1n these vans
untIl AprIl 1988.
(2) Cost-effect1veness of the Program
Based on a survey that was conducted by the Los Angeles
County TransportatIon CommIssIon (LACTC) In June of 1983 regard-
Ing the rIdershIp and cost of paratransIt serVIces, the average
cost per tax1 trIp was $4.52. Although WISE 1S no longer able to
offer this serV1ce at an average rate of $3.00 per trip, the cur-
rent negot1ated trIp rate of $4.50 IS reasonable by comparIson to
other serVIces.
Because of some d1ssat1sfact1on w1th the cab company that WISE
had used exclus1vely In the past and In order to ensure a com-
pet1tIve rate, WISE has entered Into a contract w1th a second cab
company and 1S currently Splltt1ng 1ts bUSIness between the two.
Concurrently, it IS assessIng the SerVIces and relIab1llty of
both company's and foresees beIng able to negotltate a sImIlar
rate for FY 1985-86. In utIlIzIng a fIxed rate per trip, the
program has a bUIlt-In IncentIve for the cab drIver to take the
qUIckest route to the Intended destInatIon, thereby prov1ding the
clIent WIth the most effIc1ent serV1ce.
AddItIonally, In assessIng the transportatIon program It IS Im-
portant to realize that the van and cab serVIce work 10 a com-
plementary fashIon w1th each other. WhIle the serV1ce prov1ded
by the van IS cheaper per person if the vehIcle 1S fIlled to
capacIty, 1t becomes a more expensIve means of transportation
WIth each vacant seat. WIth suffic1ent taXI servlces, WISE would
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relegate van serVIce exclusIvely to group trips such as grocery
shopping and to indIvIduals who are unable to travel by car,
thereby ensuring that the most effICIent means of transportIng
each clIent is employed.
(3) AdmInlstratlve Capacitl of WISE
The transportatIon staff of WISE currently consIsts of two
van drIvers, a fulltIme dIspatcher, a program coordInator (who
spends 75% of her tlme on dIspatchIng), an aSSocIate dIrector
(who spends 30% of his time on the transportatIon program), and
an executIve dIrector (who spends 5% of her time on the transpor-
tatIon program). WISE's paratransit program provides full dlS-
patchIng serVIces for Its taxI component. ThIS IS a substantIal-
ly different approach than that taken by most paratranslt pro-
grams WhICh Issue taxi coupons and leave the coordInatIon of
rIdes up to the IndIVIdual clIents.
In dISCUSSIng the proposed increase In taxI-serVIce WIth WISE,
CIty staff was assured that thIS increase could easily be ab-
sorbed by the current transportation staff without a request for
addltlonal admlnlstratlve funds.
A breakdown of the total Increase requested IS as follows:
Number of cab trips reqUired per month
1300
Average number of cab trIpS currently
provlded per month
- 650
Add i tional nunLber of cab tr IpS requi red
per nlonth
650
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Cost per cab trIp {~ncludlng average cost
of fare to cab company and WISE's admInI-
stratIve costs} x $5.4e
AddItIonal funds requIred per month $ 3,51~
Nunlber of months remaInIng In year
x
4
AddItIonal funds requIred for cab
serVIce for the remaInder of the year
$14,0413
AddItIonal funds reqUIred for vehIcle
maIntenance
+ 4,000
TOTAL ADDITIONAL FUNDS REQUESTED
$18,040
If thIS fundIng increase were to be approved It IS Important to
realIze the ImplIcations that the Increase In ridershIp and de-
mand would have on next year's program. The follOWIng Informa-
tIon outlInes the Impact of thIS Increase annualIzed In a
maintenance-of-effort transportatIon program In 1985-86:
1984-85 WISE ParatransIt Grant $ 128,809
AddItIonal VehIcle Maintenance Funds 4,000
AnnualIzed SerVIce Increase of $14,040 42,120
4% Cost-at-LIvIng Increase 7,01313
TOTAL FUNDS REQUIRED FOR 1985-86 $ 181,929
AddItional PropOSItIon A funds are avaIlable for the current year
and It IS antICIpated that there WIll be suffICIent funds to nleet
the reqUIred amount for next year.
(4) AddItIonal Program Ideas for 1985-86
WISE staff, in conjunctIon WIth a number of agenCIes who
have InitIated contact WIth WISE, IS currently asseSSIng ItS
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longterm paratransit goals especially in the areas of transporta-
tlon serVIces to Harbor General for the homeless IndIgent In need
of medIcal attentIon and a dedIcated component to meet the needs
of the workIng dIsabled. These areas may be addressed In their
1985-86 CommunIty Development Program proposal to the CIty.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
ThIS recommendatIon would requIre an addItIonal appropr~atIon of
$18,040 of PropOSItIon A Local Return funds (account number 20-
932-292) to be awarded to WISE's ParatransIt Program.
In order
to establIsh accounts necessary for this expendIture to be offset
by the PropOSItIon A funds the follOWIng speCIfIC budget 110e-
Item changes are needed:
account number 01-200-262-727-677
account number 20-200-695-000-770
account number 01-700-695-000-770
+ $18,040
+ $18,040
- $18,040.
RECOMMENDATIONS
CIty staff recorrffilends that CIty CounCIL award an addItional
$18,040 to WISE's paratranslt program to Increase taXI-serVIce
and to cover the cost of vehIcle repairs.
Prepared by: MaggIe Kennedy, Grants Administrator
Department of CommunIty and EconomIC Development
paratran
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