PHOTO: City Comptroller Stringer said that his office’s audit of the MTA Access-A-Ride program has revealed widespread mismanagement, waste, and service failures. Courtesy of Wikimedia/Adam E. Moreira
By Forum Staff
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Access-A-Ride program is mismanaged, fiscally wasteful, and rife with service failures, according to an audit released this week by City Comptroller Scott Stringer.
More than 31,000 times in 2015, city residents booked Access-A-Ride vehicles that never showed up and failed to provide service, stranding thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities, seniors and others who are unable to take mass transit, Stringer said.
The audit, which examined Access-A-Ride services that the MTA paid $321 million for in 2015, also found that the agency “allowed vendors to act with impunity,” failing to correct problems or improve the program.
“Access-A-Ride is absolutely essential for thousands of people to get around New York City every single day, yet this program stranded thousands of people, wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and caused untold harm and distress,” Stringer said. “We found serious breakdowns in oversight and operations which have contributed to a culture of indifference and neglect by the MTA. After years of mismanagement, it’s on the MTA to take action now.”
Key audit findings include:
Thousands of people were left stranded by Access-A-Ride, and service providers blame customers, not themselves; service providers may have manipulated over 2.5 million electronically recorded pick-up and drop off times to improve their on-time performance data; and a sample of rides found that nearly three-quarters of the time, Access-A-Ride bus and car providers misrepresented or had no data to confirm when customers were picked up.
The audit made 21 recommendations, including that the MTA:
Ensure that all buses and cars are equipped with GPS technology, and that the GPS is properly functioning and activated when the vehicles are in service; and take corrective action against service providers that inaccurately report trip and vehicle data, including higher financial penalties, reductions in trip referrals, and termination of contracts.
