Paratransit Services 2022 Update

Paratransit Services 2022 Update
By Erin McAuliff

This past year, the SFMTA’s paratransit programs safely provided close to half a million trips to older adults and people with disabilities around San Francisco. These services provide door-to-door transportation to people unable to independently use the Muni system. They include SF Access Paratransit, Group Van service, Shop-a-Round shuttles, the Essential Trip Card Program (ETC) and the Van Gogh Recreational program.

In addition to traditional van services, the SFMTA partners with the local taxi industry to provide cost-efficient and customer-friendly taxi options. Payment is accepted in every San Francisco taxi, including accessible ramp-equipped taxis, with the swipe of an SF Paratransit Taxi debit card.

Here are a few accomplishments staff at the SFMTA and Transdev (the contractor responsible for managing SF Paratransit services) have been working on behind the scenes to improve our service offerings and continue to fill transportation gaps experienced by older adults and people with disabilities:

We bought 26 new paratransit vans with added safety features like audible right turn notifications to warn pedestrians and cyclists; automated safety technology that provides alerts to operators to avoid collisions; and DriveCam technology that records safety-related events. When we retired our older vehicles, we took the opportunity to transfer three retired vehicles to the San Francisco Fire Department to support the Community Paramedicine Street Crisis Response Team and one retired vehicle to the SFMTA Customer Service Center to serve as its first Mobile Sales Van, bringing SFMTA services to the local community.
The Essential Trip Card program launched in April 2020 as a response to the pandemic. Since then, we have enrolled over 5,000 older adults and people with disabilities, providing over 160,000 taxi trips. In July, the program, and the SFMTA’s partnership with local non-profit Community Living Campaign, was featured as a case study for reducing isolation and improving health outcomes among older adults by the National Center for Mobility Management. Community Living Campaign provides full fare assistance to San Francisco paratransit riders in need.
Last year, we officially launched SF Access Online to allow riders to schedule their SF Access van trips online. We also launched SF Paratransit Taxi Online, which allows riders, including ETC customers, to pay for their monthly taxi fare allotment and track trip activity online.
San Francisco Paratransit Operations was part of the community emergency response team that organized and provided special services when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Paratransit operators trained by Emergency Management Services (EMS), teamed up with EMS staff to transport vulnerable people to COVID-19 testing, treatment and shelter locations. The work was only assigned to drivers who volunteered, even at the beginning of the pandemic, when no one fully understood the risks of the virus. At its height of demand, 27 full-time drivers were dedicated to this service.
This past May, the SFMTA Board of Directors recognized the employees of SF Paratransit for all the work they have been doing, especially the work to innovate new programs that helped our passengers stay connected with essential services during the pandemic. The partnership with EMS also received the 2022 Innovative Practice Bronze Award from the National Association of City and County Health Officials.
SFMTA staff have been hard at work preparing for the integration and pilot of Clipper 2.0. SF Paratransit will be the pilot agency to test out using the next generation of Clipper Cards, allowing riders to pay for a paratransit van trip with Clipper for the first time ever.

The SF Paratransit program also houses the Mobility Management Center, a one-stop-shop for older adults and people with disabilities to access transportation information, resources and referrals tailored to an individual’s needs. Mobility Management staff are available to answer individual questions by phone, email or in-person, or you can schedule an in-person or virtual group presentation for your organization.

San Francisco paratransit operations are funded by San Francisco’s half-cent transportation sales tax. As mentioned in our informational blog, in November voters will have an opportunity to decide whether to extend the sales tax for another 30 years and allocate 11% of the funds to paratransit. More information can be found in the Department of Elections’ Voter Guide under Proposition L or on the SFCTA Half-cent Sales Tax page.

San Francisco has proudly provided paratransit services since 1978, and we have never been more aware of how essential our programs are than during the past few years. We are so grateful for the work our paratransit staff has done and continues to do to serve older adults and people with disabilities in San Francisco.

Published October 15, 2022 at 03:38AM
https://ift.tt/j4zkDIy

Comments

CBSE very likely to announce Class 10, Class 12 exam schedule tomorrow https://ift.tt/34zqEYO

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is very likely to announce the board exam schedule for Class 10 and Class 12 on Tuesday, official sources have said. The CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams are scheduled to be conducted next year through the paper-pen mode and an announcement regarding the examination dates is expected by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who will interact with teachers across the country tomorrow.

New from Equal Rights Advocates: Remembering Legal Pioneer Barbara Babcock

The post Remembering Legal Pioneer Barbara Babcock appeared first on Equal Rights Advocates . By: Delia Coleman Published at: May 23, 2020 at 07:27AM

New top story from Time: Ireland Abandons 12.5% Tax Pledge as Global Deal Races to Finish

https://ift.tt/3iFmrts Ireland is ready to sign up to a proposed global agreement for a minimum tax on companies, a climbdown that removes one hurdle to an unprecedented deal that would reshape the landscape for multinationals. On the eve of a key meeting between 140 countries hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Irish government said it will join the push for a floor of 15% levied on profits of corporate entities. “This agreement is a balance between our tax competitiveness and our broader place in the world,” Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in a statement Thursday evening announcing the pledge. The decision “will ensure that Ireland is part of the solution in respect to the future international tax framework.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The rate agreed is 2.5 percentage points higher than the longstanding level that has been a pillar of Ireland’s economic model for a generation, underscoring its huge symbolic signifi...

New top story from Time: All 53 People Aboard Indonesia Submarine Declared Dead After Vessel’s Wreckage Found

https://ift.tt/3ezrzg5 ANYUWANGI, Indonesia — Indonesia’s military on Sunday officially said all 53 crew members from a submarine that sank and broke apart last week are dead, and that search teams had located the vessel’s wreckage on the ocean floor. The grim announcement comes a day after Indonesia said the submarine was considered sunk, not merely missing , but did not explicitly say whether the crew was dead. Officials had also said the KRI Nanggala 402’s oxygen supply would have run out early Saturday, three days after vessel went missing off the resort island of Bali. “We received underwater pictures that are confirmed as the parts of the submarine, including its rear vertical rudder, anchors, outer pressure body, embossed dive rudder and other ship parts,” military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters in Bali on Sunday. “With this authentic evidence, we can declare that KRI Nanggala 402 has sunk and all the crew members are dead,” Tjahjanto said. An underwater ro...

New top story from Time: Hurricane Ida Winds Hit 150 MPH Ahead of Louisiana Strike

https://ift.tt/3jmdoyl NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida rapidly grew in strength early Sunday, becoming a dangerous Category 4 hurricane just hours before hitting the Louisiana coast while emergency officials in the region grappled with opening shelters for displaced evacuees despite the risks of spreading the coronavirus. As Ida moved through some of the warmest ocean water in the world in the northern Gulf of Mexico, its top winds grew by 45 mph (72 kph) to 150 mph (230 kph) in five hours. The system was expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon, set to arrive on the exact date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The hurricane center said Ida is forecast to hit at 155 mph (250 kph), just 1 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane. Only four Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States: Michael in 2018, Andrew in 1992, Camille in 1969 and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. Both Michael and Andrew were u...

New top story from Time: At 114, the Oldest Living American Just Wants to Eat With Her Friend After a Year of Pandemic Restrictions

https://ift.tt/3tYBvGe (OMAHA, Neb.) — A 114-year-old Nebraska woman who has taken the title of America’s oldest living person says what she wants most is to eat with her friend after a year of pandemic restrictions. Thelma Sutcliffe, of Omaha, became the nation’s oldest living person and seventh-oldest in the world on April 17 when Hester Ford, a 115-year-old woman, died in North Carolina, according to the Gerontology Research Group. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Sutcliffe was born on Oct. 1, 1906. Her longtime friend, Luella “Lou” Mason, said she is happy that the senior living center where Sutcliffe lives is locked down, but “Thelma is as determined as ever to do what she wants to do.” Until visitors are allowed in the dining room, Thelma is taking all her meals in her room. Mason, who has Sutcliffe’s power of attorney, calls the senior living center 24 hours ahead of time to schedule visits. “She asks me every time I visit, ‘Are you going to eat with me today?’” M...

How to inculcate Financial Literacy in your Children

Many of us may have experienced the kid insisting to get alluring stuff being shown on TV in various ads. The kid may be scrolling through e-commerce websites and finding some attractive clothes, toys or, articles of makeup falsely claiming miraculous results. Are they worth buying? Are their usefulness had proven. In several examples, they end up being useless. Despite having felt their worthlessness, most parents yield to the pressure of their kids only just to make them happy. The big business houses understand this basic instinct and exploit the parent by pushing ads that might allure children and the parent find no way but to buy those stuff for their kids. Thus making a big profit by leveraging their product to target children and adolescents. This is why we...

New top story from Time: All Your Falcon and the Winter Soldier Finale Questions, Answered

https://ift.tt/2PfRssr This post contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier managed to jam a lot of plot into just six episodes of television. Sam Wilson struggled with whether to take on the mantle of Captain America —and whether the country was ready for a Black Cap. He discovered that the government had created, and then jailed, a Black Captain America before him, Isaiah Bradley. He also had to contend with a so-called terrorist organization, the Flag Smashers, who used questionable means to reach noble ends of helping refugees. Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes was trying to make amends for the evil he did as the Winter Soldier; Sharon Carter had become a black market art dealer in Magipoor; Baron Zemo was hunting down and killing supersoldiers; John Walker, the new Captain America, was letting his newfound power go to his head; a mysterious new villain played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus made a cameo; and Sam’s sister worked to fix u...

New top story from Time: This Is the White House’s Plan to Take on Facebook

https://ift.tt/3oEQl4Y Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony this week on Capitol Hill turned the Klieg lights on the social media platform’s algorithm that, by design, amplifies dangerous disinformation and lures people to spend more and more time scrolling. The question now is what the Biden Administration will do about it. White House officials know that the momentum generated by Haugen’s testimony will fade over time and the window of popular support for major structural changes to the technology landscape will close. “The White House, like everyone else in Washington, recognizes that the tide is high and the time for action is now,” Tim Wu, special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, said in a statement to TIME. White House officials are “distressed” by Haugen’s revelations that social media companies’ products are targeting children, Wu said, and “the era of ‘let’s just trust the platforms to solve it themselves’ needs to be ...

New top story from Time: How Fixing Facebook’s Algorithm Could Help Teens—and Democracy

https://ift.tt/3Fj086H What does teen anorexia have to do with the crumbling of 21st century democracy? It’s the algorithm, stupid. On its surface, helping young girls feel better about their bodies doesn’t seem to have much to do with the deep polarization and disinformation threatening civic society around the world. But Tuesday’s testimony by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen suggests that they’re both symptoms of the social media platform’s flawed algorithm and corrupt business model , and adjusting Facebook’s algorithm to tackle one problem could go a long way towards addressing the other. Until Haugen’s whistleblower revelations, which have been published in the Wall Street Journal and on 60 Minutes, most of the conversation about regulating Facebook has focused on hate speech, disinformation, and the platform’s role in enabling the January 6 riot at the Capitol—a conversation that inflames tensions on both sides of the aisle and has led to a political impasse ...

My precise view

Search This Blog