Access Services…Behind the Scenes Volume 5, Issue 14: March 2, 2012

Executive Report Access Services just received the draft results from an Access Customer Satisfaction Survey and the results are fantastic. The survey was conducted during the month of December 2011 and consisted of over 1,200 telephone interviews. The actual interviews lasted an average of 22 minutes and 55 seconds. Overall customers are satisfied with the service, especially with the drivers and vehicles. Customers liked and appreciated the service and believed that the service was improving. Customers felt that shared rides could be improved along with allowing more flexibility and same day availability with reservations. On time performance was one of the categories singled out as having improved and an area in which improvement is still needed. When Access Services receives the final draft of the Survey a more in depth article will be written. In the meantime, congratulations to the Access team on a job well done! Shelly Verrinder, Executive Director

Community Meetings Southern Region About 100 customers attended the Access Southern Region Community Meeting on Saturday, February 18th at the Barbara J. Riley Community and Senior Center in Downey, CA. The goal of the meeting was to meet our customers and talk with them about what concerns they may have. The Southern Region provider, Global Paratransit, arrived early and provided snacks and refreshments for all attendees. Access and Global Paratransit staff addressed customer concerns related to hybrid vehicles, routing, shared rides, Access Rider ID TAP Cards, and other service issues. In addition, a representative from ReadyCredit attended the meeting and answered questions on how to use the prepaid side of the new Access Rider ID TAP cards. About 10 customers had their mobility devices marked and tethered as part of our Mobility Device Marking and Tethering Program, an effort to ensure all our customers are traveling safely. As always, Access provided free rides to the Community Meeting. This was a great opportunity for Access staff to meet and talk with customers from the Southern Region. Overall, the meeting was positive and productive. Access received great feedback on what issues customers are concerned with and gained valuable information on how to improve the service in the future. Access thanks Global Paratransit for continuing to provide excellent ADA paratransit service for Access in the Southern Region. Alfredo Torales, Project Administrator

West Central Region On February 22nd over 120 Access customers and their family members attended the Access west central region community meeting at Plummer Park in West Hollywood. Access Community Advisory Committee member Michael Arrigo also attended the meeting to support staff. West central service provider California Transit Inc. (CTI) alongside Access staff greeted our customers and took the opportunity to inform them about recent TAP card implementation issues, as well as, safety and performance improvement initiatives. Access customers were provided with an opportunity to share their Access ride experiences. Many Access customers noticed the service improvements in the west central region and they were very appreciative of the efforts made by CTI and Access staff to provide a safe and reliable service for them. Access eligibility team ASI…Behind the Scenes Page 1 members were present at the meeting to provide complimentary marking and tethering services to those that wanted to have their mobility devices marked or tethered. Geoffrey Okamoto, Project Administrator

Northern Region On Saturday, February 24th, Access Services hosted the Northern Region Community Meeting at the Encino Community Center. More than 80 Access customers attended the event. Access staff - Geetu Banerjee, Hamilton Franco, Phillip Rice, and Hilary Simmons were in attendance including the General Manager for MV Transportation – Nader Raydan and his entire team. Community meetings are an opportunity for Access staff to inform our customers about important changes affecting service, such as the new TAP cards that are being rolled out and also to get feedback from our customers on their perspective of service. At this meeting, Access and a Ready Credit representative gave a detailed presentation on TAP cards and alleviated general concerns customers had about TAP card usage. Other topics that were highlighted during this meeting included: Access Services ridership growth and the increase in eligibility evaluations, Riders Guide helpful tips such as when to call Operations Monitoring Center, 20 minute pick-up window and free fare. Safety initiatives Access has taken over the past two years with Smart Drive, Safety Stripes and Wheelchair Marking were also discussed. Overall, the meeting was very positive and customers were very thankful for the service. Some of the features of the service that they really like are the fares, on-time performance and courteous drivers. General concerns customers had were about routes and shared rides. Staff from C.A.R.E Evaluators had the opportunity to mark and tether 6 wheelchairs at this meeting. Special thanks to the Access team for their support. We also commend Access’ Northern Region provider – MV Transportation for their consistent efforts and dedication in providing exceptional service to our customers.

Geetu Banerjee, Project Administrator Driver Emergency Preparedness Training Begins Access along with providers Global Paratransit (GPI) and San Gabriel Transit (SGT) launched a full scale initiative to train all employee and lease drivers on the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Incident Command System (ICS) Emergency Preparedness. This program is in keeping with the Access Security and Emergency Preparedness Plan to train all drivers on how to be prepared for any emergency or event. GPI kicked off their program with 14 Road Supervisors, trainers, BTWs, and drivers as part of their annual continuous training requirements. Three days later, GPI held their second class for new hire drivers. The new hire drivers receive the emergency preparedness component at the end of their training, just before they graduate. SGT launched their program with two consecutive classes for Road Supervisors, BTWs, and drivers. They also have a new hire driver training class in session and this will be the first class to receive the emergency preparedness training. This training program is a scaled down version of the NIMS/ICS training offered by FEMA and is tailored to the driver arena. Situation examples and role play scenarios are directly related to drivers and their passengers. Many examples were taken from real life events such as the December 2011 wind event, the 60 freeway tanker fire closure, and the flooding of Pacific Coast Highway in the south county area. After each session, participants were asked what was the most important lesson learned from the class. Overwhelmingly, it was the personal preparedness component of the training. Several

ASI…Behind the Scenes Page 2 people commented that they are not prepared at home but they will be now. Everyone has to be prepared at home so they can then help the Access customers. Evie Palicz, Mgr. Safety, Training & Emergency Preparedness

WTS “From the Boardroom” Presentation On February 22nd, the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) hosted a special luncheon presentation titled “From the Boardroom” at the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens in Little Tokyo. Andre Colaiace, Deputy Executive Director of Planning and Governmental Affairs, and I attended the WTS luncheon on behalf of Access Services. The three-speaker panel was made up of board members from some of the largest public agencies operating in Los Angeles County: Cindy Miscikowski serves as the president of the Port of Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners; Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor currently serves on the L.A. Metro Board of Directors; and Valeria Velasco serves on the Los Angeles World Airports Board of Airport Commissioners, which oversees three active airports in Southern California (LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys). One of the main purposes of the WTS luncheons is to spotlight the achievements of women in the field of transportation. On this occasion, the board and commission members spoke about their personal experiences serving as elected and appointed officials. They talked about what skills they felt were crucial to be a successful board member and also described the variety of achievements they had observed in their career fields, such as seeing increases in the number of women entering – and excelling in – the field of transportation.

Eric Haack, Strategic Planner

Foothill Presentation At the invitation of Access Boardmember and Foothill Transit Executive Director Doran Barnes, I had the opportunity to make a presentation about Access Services at Foothill’s recent Executive Board meeting in West Covina. I talked about why Access was started, our service model, fares, governance structure and other characteristics of the service. I also touched on the United States Department of Transportation’s proposed “reasonable modification” rule and how it might affect both fixed-route and paratransit agencies.

Andre Colaiace, Deputy Executive Director, Planning & Governmental Affairs

Crisis Communications Workshop Access hosted the Media Relations/ Crisis Communications workshop on February 15th. Mr. David Gershwin, Access’ consultant on local legislative affairs, provided instruction on the most effective ways to communicate in internal and external crisis scenarios. The workshop was very interactive. Usage of many pop culture references and YouTube clips of news stories assisted in the presentation of material. The participants, who included Access Board Member Martin Gombert, key staff from our municipal and city partner agencies, and service provider staff learned valuable techniques to respond to media outlets, journalists and blogs. Mr. Gershwin also touched on the importance of ASI…Behind the Scenes Page 3 social media in a crisis, focusing on how to stay afloat in current times as more consumers rely on social networking and micro blogging sites to receive their news. As Access is diligently training key staff on how to respond operationally to an emergency, this training served as a key addition to equipping ourselves and partners with valuable tools to use during a crisis. Participant Feedback: “This workshop was very beneficial. The information provided was beyond basic, but the best and most effective approaches were emphasized. The examples and internet links to actual media responses was also very useful.” – Yvonne Price, Metro “All the information provided in the training was very current and David Gershwin is very knowledgeable in media relations and crisis management” – Patrick Wei, CARE Evaluators Charace Thompson, Sr. Admin. Assistant

Rider Comments “Access Paratransit is a big help for me for commuting to places that I need to go especially going to Active Adult Day Healthcare and going other places. Your service is excellent especially the one assigned to picking me up. The driver is such a very responsible, very respectful and is always helpful to elderly like me. I hope there are more employees like her at your company. Thank you.”

Manita, Cerritos Rider since 2003

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