Edmonton city council is considering improving the Disabled Adult Transit System (DATS).
DATS completes about one million door-to-door trips for 10,000 Edmontonians who cannot use regular transit due to physical and/or cognitive conditions. Commuters book trips in advance and are given a 30-minute window to be picked up.
The three main criticisms DATS receives are no-shows (24.3 per cent), a need for more driver assistance (14.9 per cent) and a lack of professionalism (12.5 per cent).
A number of DATS users voiced their complaints to councillors Monday.
“I used to be able to get trips fairly frequently, like two years ago,” Bailey Cote said. “But now … it just doesn’t work.”
“What we heard loud and clear today was there really wasn’t enough capacity to address the demand,” Ward 2 Councillor Bev Esslinger said.
To improve the no-show problem, a report that went to council suggested technology like real-time access and notifications to alert a client when their ride is near.
City administration said it would cost $2.2 million to improve the service.
With files from Sarah Plowman
