The Specialized Transportation Advisory Committee (STAC) held its first official meeting of the New Year. Russell Jones (chair), June Mangum (vice-chair) Bobbie Fields (secretary) William Bass (member) Christina Clift (member), and Allison Donald (member) were in attendance to discuss the previous year’s progress as well as outline an agenda for the upcoming year. An invitation was extended to a Mata plus representative to attend as per usual, but they chose not to. Even though there has been some improvements made in terms of the rider experience with MATAplus there are still some issues that have yet to be adequately addressed by the administration that runs MATAplus. Christina Clift and other members of the STAC committee expressed concerns about the status of Ms. Stanko and her level of involvement in the day to day operations of MATAplus. Mr. Garrison has yet to inform anyone on the STAC committee of what her responsibilities are.
Bobbie Fields informed the members that she had been late four times and cancelled out for an entire day just this week alone. In addition to that we would like to work with the individuals responsible for the automated messages that riders here when calling MATAplus to improve its functionality and streamline the prompts that we have to wade through as riders.
STAC is also in the process of revising the MATAplus application and rider’s guide. Both documents are a blatant violation of the effective communication portion under the ADA. In concert with that we want simplified explanations of the assistive equipment and medical explanations that are listed on the application (i.e. it would be very easy for someone to confuse receiving oxygen through an inhaler versus receiving oxygen via an oxygen tank, because a clear distinction isn’t made on the application). We would like the input of MATAplus so we could get this issue resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible.
As a committee we would also like to begin shadowing MATAplus, but we have yet to receive any concrete dates and times from Ms. Wade to when we are going to do so. We have decided as a committee to table the Rider’s survey until we can narrow down the questions that will comprise the survey.
STAC also would like to recognize a MATAplus employee during the quarter recognition mark. As a committee we are hoping the awards will be given out during the MATAplus board meeting which is scheduled on January 25th. STAC would like to nominate drivers by using the compliment and complaint line 901-522-9175. This event is extremely important to STAC, because we want to keep the lines of communication open which serves to benefit all parties involved. If you have any questions about the event or would like to make a donation please contact Bobbie Fields (901)726-6404.
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