Purpose for Establishing a No Show Policy

Sporadic passenger no shows, cancels late, and cancels at door are an expected cost of doing business for a paratransit system. However, at a time when the cost of providing ADA Complementary Paratransit Service is growing and all eligible demand for paratransit trips must be met; excessive no shows, late cancels and cancels at door adversely affect the efficiency of service and significantly add to the cost of operating the system.

Definitions

Advanced Cancellation - DART First State defines an advanced cancellation as occurring when the customer (or the customer's advocate) calls and cancels a specific scheduled trip at least 90 minutes prior to the Be Ready Time.

Early morning trips scheduled for pickup before 6:30 am are to leave the cancellation message on the voice mail to be retrieved by the Reservation Center as soon as it opens at 5:00 am or call in person no later than 5:30a.m.

Cancel Late - DART First State defines a late cancellation when the customer (or the customer's advocate) does not call and cancel a specific scheduled trip at least 90 minutes prior to the Be Ready Time (other than early morning trips as identified above).

Cancel at Door - DART First State defines a cancel at door as occurring when the vehicle arrives at the location designated for a specific scheduled trip within 30 minutes of the Be Ready Time and the customer (or the customer's advocate) notifies the operator at that time that they no longer need the scheduled trip.

• The operator will verify the need for any other trips scheduled for that day and advise Dispatch accordingly when calling in the cancel at door.

• There has been no call by the customer (or the customer's advocate) to cancel the scheduled trip 90 minutes or more before the Be Ready Time.
  AND
• The vehicle arrives at the scheduled location with 30 minutes after the Be Ready Time.
  AND
• The operator notifies or attempts to notify the customer that they have arrived.
  AND
• The operator cannot reasonably see the customer approaching the vehicle after waiting five minutes.
  AND
• The Dispatch office is notified. At this time, Dispatch will verify that the operator is at the correct location.

Below is a table indicating the volume of No Shows that may be accumulated per month before action will be taken:

Appeal Process

A customer (or a customer's advocate) may file a verbal or written appeal for an individual no show issued by contacting DART First State No Show Coordinator:

Designated DART First State staff will review the information provided by the customer (or the customer's advocate) and make a decision to either uphold the individual no show or to overturn within ten business days.

If the No Shows have accumulated to a point where a suspension will be activated, the customer (or the customer's advocate) may file a verbal or written appeal for a review of all no shows by contacting DART First State No Show Coordinator as noted above.

If the customer is not satisfied with the review by DART First State, they may request a formal review by the EDTAC (Elderly and Disabled Transit Advisory Committee). A review will be scheduled and a decision made within ten business days. The decision of the EDTAC will be final.