able to use transit. LA Metro funded the materials, and Access Services provided the data, postage, and staff time to complete the task so as not to share their users’ personally identifiable information. The mailers were also branded recognizably as materials from Access Services to create a sense of familiarity and to clearly show that the communication came from a trusted source. Access Services did receive feedback from some of their riders who used the Via service after learning about it. While the comments were minimal in number, all feedback was positive. LA Metro also received feedback in the form of comments through the Via app. While sharing user comments recorded upon ride completion was not initially agreed upon in the data sharing agreement, LA Metro realized early on that monitoring the comments could help the agency learn about the user response to the pilot, and Via agreed to share the data field. For the most part, comments from WAV users praised the service and the drivers.
3.2 Puget Sound Region
Since improving access to transit for people with disabilities was one of the specific goals of the pilot for Sound Transit and King County Metro, they insisted on access for people with disabilities to be an integral focus of the MOD provider, which they eventually found through Via. Via allowed users to indicate a request for mobility assistance by toggling a button in their account in the app, or requesting it over the phone. These users would then be provided with a WAV if requested, and a pick-up or drop-off at an exact location, compared to other users who may have to walk a short distance. Two of the specific, and related, goals of the public transit agencies in Puget Sound were to improve access to Link light rail and buses for persons with disabilities and to increase the use of Link and buses by persons with disabilities. All five of the stations served by Via to Transit connect to Link Light Rail and buses. The transit agencies decided early on that they would not merely consider the available paratransit service as an adequate supplement for the Via to Transit MOD, even though that option would legally be considered compliant with the ADA. This meant ensuring that a portion of the fleet of vehicles used for the pilot would comprise accessible vehicles. Unlike the model in Los Angeles, where some MOD drivers use their own vehicles, the Puget Sound agencies provided a dedicated fleet of vehicles for the Via to Transit pilot, as decided upon by the transit agencies and Via, largely to uncomplicate fare integration goals and processes.74 The dedicated fleet consists of 18 vehicles, three of which were retrofitted as WAVs. The ambulatory vehicles have the capacity to hold six (but Via limits operational capacity to five) passengers, while the WAVs have capacity for one passenger with a mobility device and four additional ambulatory (Via limits operational capacity to
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