Heard a few horror stories about Metro Mobility? Let me tell you a few!
You’ve seen them around town. Metro Mobility buses. If you’ve lived in the Twin Cities long enough, you remember news stories about poor service or budget cuts imperiling service. The general impression you hold is probably neutral to negative.
Since the early 1980s, I’ve been a regular Metro Mobility rider. I’ve experienced the gamut: Bad rides. Long rides. Bad routing. Poor customer service. Bad drivers. Registration mess-ups. Even a class action lawsuit.
Back in 1993, Metro Mobility became front page news as a case study of how not to do systems change. It debuted new providers, new buses, new drivers, new computers, new rules. Everything changed on October 2, 1993. And everything failed. The result: gridlock. Weeks of gridlock. To get Metro Mobility back on track, Gov. Arne Carlson did what governors do in an emergency – called out the National Guard. I was one of three riders who filed, and settled, a class action lawsuit against Metro Mobility.
It’s hard to live down that kind of bad press. And, riders like myself, have gotten used to using Metro Mobility as a scapegoat. But, I’m here today to tell the truth. Today’s Metro Mobility is pretty darned good.
Perfect? No. It’s a public transit system – paratransit – and like most systems it has its good days and bad days. But, little by little, month by month, year by year, Metro Mobility has become a darned good paratransit system.
Transit Team is my service provider. Formerly, Handicabs, Transit Team is a small company based in Minneapolis’ north loop. When I started working in 1977, before “Project Mobility” served Brooklyn Center, Handicabs’ owners, Joyce and Harlan, came to my rescue, transporting me to and from work for more than a year. After that, Handicabs / Transit Team, became a Metro Mobility provider in its various iterations. What hasn’t changed through the years? Customer service has always been a priority. And, it shows in driver longevity and riders’ loyalty.
My driver, morning and night, is Scott G. (I don’t even know his last name, but he’s one of those employees that owners dream of. He’s reliable, dependable, consistent.) You get to know little things about a person when you ride with them for seven years. Because of my comments, Scott started watching American Idol, and we regularly talk Minnesota Twins. My cats also adore Scott, and run to the door to meet him in a “cat swarm.”
Oddly sentimental, I got a little weepy a few weeks ago when Scott told me his bus was being retired the following week. Except for routine maintenance, he’d driven 6306 five days a week for more than seven years. Scott is a man of routine, so I worried that it would take time for him to adjust to a new vehicle. Boy, did I call that wrong. He loves the quiet ride of his new hybrid bus.
So, here’s to Metro Mobility. Buses, drivers, reservationists, mechanics, administrators. Keep up the good work. Here’s one passenger who appreciates the ride.
Now, let’s get paratransit service to the rest of Minnesota.
