Dial-a-Ride Firm Gets Reprieve : Pasadena: Despite complaints of declining efficiency, the contractor will be retained--for now, the Board of Directors decided.

PASADENA —  The vans break down, they’re late and they have accidents. City staff and clients had little good to say about the city’s beleaguered Dial-a-Ride system, which is supposed to taxi the elderly and the disabled.

But it’s still an essential service, say some of the system’s wheelchair-bound riders, who rely on it to get to doctor’s appointments and supermarkets. “Dial-a-Ride is survival,” said Susan Gross, a rider and a representative of the California Assn. of the Physically Handicapped.

On Tuesday, the Board of Directors considered an array of options to improve the service and voted to retain MediRide as the operator--for now.

“We need to make some suggestions for the contractor to adhere to,” Director Chris Holden said. “If he doesn’t, maybe we should consider getting another contractor.”

The system, which has been run for the past year by MediRide Inc., now transports about 8,500 people a month in seven city-owned vans--with a declining efficiency, said Sarah Gallup, the city’s acting coordinator.

While the previous contractor averaged four complaints a month, MediRide has been averaging 25, most of them about tardiness, Gallup said. The number of rides the service has been providing has declined from an average of 3.5 an hour to 2.9. And costs and demand have been going up.

Part of the problem was traced to a manufacturing flaw in the van. The vans tended to develop vapor lock in hot weather, Gallup said. Two months ago, the city had to rent cars after six of the seven minibuses broke down during the early summer heat wave.

But the timeliness of the system is “a summary of a whole lot of factors,” Gallup said. “Timeliness means dispatching well, having the vans working and having drivers who make a concerted effort to be on time.”

Passenger William Dykens said he is afraid to use the system after he was flung from his wheelchair during a ride last month. The company determined that the wheelchair had not been properly lashed down. Dykens said he was not injured.

MediRide Vice President Irwin Rosenberg said the firm operates in Alhambra, San Bernardino and Los Angeles with few complaints. “Part of the problem has been a lack of communication with the city,” he said.

Many of the complaints had not been forwarded to the company until long after they were registered, he said. The manufacturing flaw in the vans has been fixed, he added, and there has been a “significant reduction” in the number of complaints during the past three weeks. But the company lost $50,000 on the contract last year, he added.

The board voted to continue the contract while city staff audit and monitor the service.