Following a public complaint over the inability to easily book rides on the city’s prime paratransit service, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it entered into a settlement agreement with the City and County of Honolulu to improve the operations of TheHandi-Van.
In a statement, the DOJ announced that Honolulu, under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act, must improve its paratransit services as federal law requires and do so in a three-year period. According to DOJ, the settlement agreement resolves complaints customers of TheHandi-Van — operated under a contract with the city by private nonprofit Oahu Transit Services Inc. — have had in recent years as many had called to make or change reservations for rides, had long telephone hold times or did not have their calls answered. Under the DOJ agreement, Honolulu will take steps to lessen hold times and within three years answer 95% of calls to TheHandi-Van within three minutes and 99% of calls within five minutes.
Honolulu also will provide regular reports to the department on its progress under the agreement.
“Ensuring easy access to booking paratransit is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the department’s civil rights division said in a statement. “This agreement will allow users to reserve and use paratransit in Honolulu. The Justice Department is committed to ending discriminatory practices in paratransit, because accessible transportation is critical to independence and engagement in civic life.”
Under federal law, cities and counties like Honolulu, which provide bus or rail services to the public, also must provide paratransit services. The DOJ added that “paratransit is a public service where individuals who are unable to use the regular bus or rail transit system because of a physical or mental impairment schedule a trip to be picked up (at home, for example) and dropped off at their destination. Reserving rides is a key aspect to paratransit.”
On Tuesday the city responded that the federal investigation into the operations of TheHandi-Van had actually been going on for some time.
“The initial investigation started a few years ago but was largely suspended during Covid while Handi-Van ridership declined and telephone and service performance operated at acceptable performance levels,” Roger Morton, Honolulu transportation director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an email. “As recently as April 2022, telephone access was impeded by the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on staffing levels. On several occasions, multiple reservations staff were exposed or contracted the virus causing staff levels to fall.”
Morton added that with TheHandi-Van services returning to normal, “the basic issue is that riders calling TheHandi-Van have experienced longer telephone hold times and difficulties in reaching a call taker to place or change their ride reservations.” He said TheHandi-Van has “strict performance guidelines which were not being achieved.”
The city, according to Morton, has developed a plan to ensure compliance with the federal government. The plan includes hiring more reservation staff; altering employment rules allowing greater opportunities for staff to work from home; and using federal funds to acquire new scheduling software that allows users to reserve trips while using either a mobile phone or computer.
The problems of TheHandi-Van are not new and have been highlighted in recent news reports.
In December one user of the city’s paratransit service, Deborah Braiman, told the Star-Advertiser that while using TheHandi-Van she’d continually experienced long wait times. She added that over the past several months, the service proved less responsive to the needs of its riders — many of whom are blind and disabled — and who depend on the vehicles for mobility.
Braiman, who is blind, attributed the poor service to the shortage of vehicles or that they are simply not responding to their clients. “They’re not answering the call. They’re not showing up. They’re not telling people they’re going to be late. They’re booking vans that aren’t available,” she added.
On Tuesday, Morton claimed that “the city does not deny any trip requests and accommodates all requests within an hour of the request. For example, a trip requested for 6:30 a.m. may be offered anytime between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. If demand exceeds supply, phone reservations take longer per call while reservations staff confer with schedulers over options available. Providing more service reduces the length of individual calls and allows for better phone service.”
In December the department stated it had 207 vehicles in various states of condition, with about 84 out of commission. Morton previously told the Star-Advertiser that the department would need to purchase 40 vans a year because they last only five to six years.
During a Jan. 12 news conference presided over by Mayor Rick Blangiardi, the city said it purchased 48 more gas-powered vans for TheHandi-Van service. The vans — expected to arrive in August — cost about $9.7 million, of which 80% is federally funded. In addition, the city funneled $750,000 into building a new software system for reserving the vehicles, Morton said. And the department also will explore using private partners and smaller vehicles to help ease the shortage of available vehicles.
Meanwhile, Morton said the city did not attempt to fight or counter the federal investigation into its paratransit system. Instead, he stressed that the “city has negotiated with the Department of Justice over the past few months in an attempt to craft a reasonable and realistic schedule acceptable to both the city and the Department of Justice.” And Morton added that the DOJ “did not seek any monetary penalty but required the city to draft a plan to become compliant with ADA performance rules over the next three years.”
According to the DOJ, the settlement agreement with Honolulu “does not affect the city and county’s continuing responsibility to comply with all aspects of the ADA … (and) nothing in this agreement shall preclude the United States from filing a separate action under the ADA for any alleged violation not covered by this agreement.”
———
Star-Advertiser staff writer Jack Truesdale contributed to this report.
