MATA corrects 30-minute window mistake

MACCD Transportation Summit highlights correct information about MATAplus

At the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities Transportation Summit, MATA announced that the thirty-minute window follows the scheduled pick-up time. Anthony Amos of MATA referred to the new Rider’s Guide that is online that corrects the previous misinformation that there was a thirty-minute window before and a thirty-minute window after the scheduled time.

The Memphis Center for Independent Living had noted that the misinformation in the previous Rider’s Guide was confusing and preventing people with disabilities from understanding and using the system. This past December, MCIL had a blog article about the misinformation in the Rider’s Guide. Read Stephen Tennial’s piece: https://mciljournal.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-mata-30-minute-window.html

Now the guide reads:

Customers must be ready to depart at any time during the thirty (30) minute window which starts after your scheduled pick up time.

The MACCD event at the Memphis Public Library was lightly attended and began with a presentation from MATA and included Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris pitching for MACCD to support a $10,000,000.00 County investment in public transportation. There were a dozen people at the event that was set up for about 120 people. The sponsors of the event did not seem to attend and there were no vendors.
MATA began a new functional certification method last year. Mr. Amos said that they are also using the functional assessment for recertifications but hope that they will not face a wave of certifications at their paratransit assessment center. He said that at one point, MATA had nine-thousand people certified for MATAplus.