The STAC Report

MATAplus news 

By Allison Donald
MATA has an organizational overhaul in the effort to improve on time performance and customer service.  MATA has hired Victor Riley, as the Safety and Security officer, for rail operations Anthony Amos the new Compliance officer, and Frank Hauser the new Trolley Director.

Prior to joining MATA, Wiley served as the Transit Safety Programs Manager for the Florida Department of Transportation, advising local transit agencies on matters of safety and compliance with state and federal regulations. Trolley Director Frank Hauser joined last month, giving the MATA Trolley a leadership team with nearly 45 years combined experience in the transit industry. 

The STAC plans to work with Mr. Hauser and Mr. Riley to ensure that the trolley system is accessible for individuals with disabilities.  As the STAC we are going to request a meeting with both individuals to address our concerns regarding accessibility and compliance with the trolley system.  Mr. Wiley will also be receiving a phone call from STAC requesting a meeting.  MATAplus and the trolleys has shown some improvement but, problems still persist with both systems.

As a committee we have requested the policies and procedures for MATAplus, but those requests have continued to be ignored.  At our August meeting which was attended by La Barbra Houston (MATA representative), Bobbie Fields the STAC secretary had still not received the renewal application. Even today, Bobbie does not know if she will get the renewal. Other customer service problems like hold times for dispatch are still too long and the professionalism and customer service of the reservationist leaves a little to be desired. 

We plan to continue to demand full transparency about MATAplus, because it affects the way many people with disabilities travel around the city.

The STAC committee and MATAplus will be celebrating the annual driver appreciation luncheon on October 19, 2017 from 11am-3pm.  We are looking into giving an award out to a driver who has gone above and beyond duty to provide exemplary customer service.  If you would like to contribute to the event please contact Bobbie Fields or Christina Clift at the Memphis Center for Independent Living at 901-726-6404.

If you have any complaints or comments you can attend the monthly STAC meeting on Friday October 13^th.at 2:00 pm at the Memphis Center for Independent Living.  If you would like to keep up with what going on with MATA and how it will affect MATAplus riders you can visit our website at www.mcil.org to read September’s STAC report or any of the past news you may have missed in our past reports.