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June 26, 2024

Reminder: Metro Call-A-Ride Reservation Change on July 5, 2024

The Metro Call‑A‑Ride reservation period will change on Monday, July 5, to allow for Call‑A‑Ride trips to be booked a maximum of up to three days in advance. Currently, transit customers have an option on Fridays-only to make reservations for trips up to five days in advance. This option will no longer be available starting on Friday, July 5. This change will help reduce reservation wait times, reduce trip cancellations and provide stronger service for customers.

Since the pandemic, Metro Call‑A‑Ride has experienced service capacity issues due to limited workforce resources, resulting in both a significant number of trip denials each month where Metro Call‑A‑Ride cannot serve a requested reservation and significant wait times for callers trying to make reservations. Changing the Metro Call‑A‑Ride period will help address some of these issues, as the data shows:

  • Reservations made farther out are more likely to be cancelled
  • Callers making reservations on Friday experience two-times longer hold times waiting to get through
  • Reservations made on Friday take two-times longer to complete
  • There are more customer trip-cancellations each month than Metro Call‑A‑Ride trip denials
  • Once a trip is cancelled, it is very difficult to schedule a new Metro Call‑A‑Ride trip into the open availability

Metro Transit engaged the disability community in April to get feedback on a proposal to move from the five-day in advance maximum for Metro Call‑A‑Ride reservations to next-day reservations only. Metro Transit received more than 150 public comments during this engagement. Several responses highlighted a desire for next-day options, but also concerns on schedule flexibility, desire to call and schedule reservations as early as possible, and having time to make alternative arrangements if needed. This feedback from the disability community helped shape the change to the reservation period on July 5 to a maximum of three days in advance. The three-day reservation period provides customers with a longer window to schedule trips in advance and have some flexibility, while also reducing wait times and trips cancellations.

For more information on transit accessibility and paratransit services, please visit MetroStLouis.org.

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