CARACTERÍSTICAS AMBIENTALES DE LAS LOCALIDADES IDENTIFICADAS

The funding regulations speak to the need to involve consumers and clients of agencies and organizations in the outreach dialogue. Logically, involving the beneficiaries or users of transportation services operated in the county offers a more realistic understanding of client and consumer needs.

In addition to meeting with the consumer advisory committees of both Metro and Access Services, three consumer focus groups with various constituencies were conducted. Members of the project team were able to schedule and conduct meetings with the following consumer groups:

• Homeless women between the ages of 30 and 60 in a transitional housing facility;

• Hispanic seniors in a nutrition site program; and

• Chinese-speaking seniors receiving services in an adult day health care facility

Highlights of the meetings are presented, as follows. In addition, the detailed summaries of these sessions are documented and appended to this report (Appendix D-2).

Hawkes Transitional Residence, Women’s Village of the Good Shepherd Center

The project team met with eleven women varying in ages who are current residents of the facility. They represent a range of educational backgrounds with several women educated beyond high school, and two with master’s degree level work. Race and ethnicity included Caucasian, Latino and Asian.

FINAL 42 SEPTEMBER 2007 These women are all regularly using public transit, traveling extensively around Los Angeles County on fixed-route transit as they pursue possible job opportunities and housing possibilities. Several women were also addressing medical issues and traveling distances to the physicians and clinics that would accept their Medi-Cal health insurance. Most spend several hours on the buses each day.

A summary of issues related to transportation identified by this group include the following:

- Use of bus tokens limits access to transportation services. The amount of tokens issued by agencies/organizations to these individuals is limited and tokens are not accepted as payment on all public transit systems.

- Real time information (vehicle arrival and schedule information) about buses will do much to improve the ride and lower anxiety of regular bus riders.

- Buses are passing by riders without any clear indication as to why, as these buses are not apparently full. Several women reported “pass up” experiences.

- Driver attitude improves the quality of the ride experience. The women appreciated helpful, polite drivers. Increased driver training is needed.

- More shelters and amenities are needed at bus stops. Wait times for the bus and between transfers can be lengthy and is problematic in inclement weather.

City of Pomona, Palomares Park Community Center, Senior Nutrition Site Pomona, California

This nutrition site provides noon-day meals weekdays to seniors between the ages of 40 and 65 most seniors were Spanish-speaking. Some individuals answered in English, others in Spanish. The focus group session was translated by community center staff. The majority of seniors traveled to the site by the local paratransit service, some walked and some traveled by fixed- route bus.

Consumers take Foothill Transit, Pomona Valley Transportation Authority (PVTA) and Access Paratransit. Some individuals expressed the desire to use Omnitrans but are not familiar with system schedules or routes. When asked which services are used seniors responded, as follows:

Get About (Pomona Valley Transportation Authority) 17

Foothill Transit 10

Omnitrans 2

Access Services 1

The primary issues discussed by this group of seniors were:

- Need for improved customer service and a desire to communicate with less difficulty with dispatchers and drivers.

- Better information about vehicle arrival times.

- Many compliments about paratransit service but some concerns about too- early arrivals – this was from a group of persons using subscription paratransit services traveling to the meal site.

- Communication difficulties – noted by several individuals, both consumers and staff. It is difficult for the Spanish speaking senior who has limited English to make his or her needs known.

FINAL 43 SEPTEMBER 2007 Sunny Day Adult Day Health Care Center (ADHC) El Monte, California

This is a large facility that provides services to both able-bodied Chinese seniors and to those who are frail and have multiple health problems. Staff met with exclusively Chinese speaking consumers previously to obtain comments about transportation, and presented these in writing at the outset of the meeting with members of the project team. In addition, three clients of the facility were brought in, with their caregivers, to discuss particular concerns. Feedback obtained from eight participants included:

• Late and too early pick-up and drop off times

• Lengthy travel times

• Difficulty communicating with dispatch and drivers by non-English speaking seniors

• Need for a back-up plan when dispatching systems is down.

This agency does provide some of its own transportation with a fleet of seven vehicles, including two back-ups. But none of these vehicles are lift-equipped. Consumers are reportedly much happier on the agency-provided transportation than on public paratransit services. Agency staff also reported a good working relationship with Access paratransit focused on problem-solving. The issues raised by these groups are not new, and echo sentiments heard during the agency/organization interviews. Some of the public transit/paratransit issues and improvements that were mentioned by this group can be effectuated through greater communication and coordination between public transit and human service agencies/entities (e.g., improved fare media reciprocity, standardization of bus stop amenities, improved customer service policies and accompanying training for personnel, etc...). The guide used for agency interviews and consumer focus group discussions is presented as Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2

Stakeholder Interview Guide

1. What is the role of transportation relative to the overall responsibilities of the agency/organization?

2. Whether the organization (or agency) operates transportation, and/or is aware of other public or private transportation programs and options;

3. What are the direct or indirect experiences with individuals and/or families in making trips (work, school, medical, other)? Is there a lack of transportation for them? What might be perceived impacts to the organization (specifying individual or situational experiences with clients/consumers)?

4. What are the organization’s opinions about possible barriers to the coordination of transportation services for clients and/or consumers?

5. What types of transportation needs are unmet and/or which areas are underserved for your target population(s)?

6. Any recommendations on how to improve access to transportation services (and/or increase the availability of transportation services) in the community?

7. Any interest in participating in potential coordination projects? What are some of the potential project ideas and agency priorities or viewpoints? (exploratory discussion).

FINAL 44 SEPTEMBER 2007

CHAPTER 5 – FINDINGS OF THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

This chapter considers the findings of the work activities completed in previous chapters. There is a detailed discussion of the assessment of resources and needs, and identification of gaps and unmet need.