Ridership on TheHandi-Van has nearly recovered from a drop that began with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are concerns about the government’s ability to keep up with the growing demand for its services.
In an informational meeting Tuesday during a Honolulu City Council meeting, the city’s Department of Transportation Services noted that TheHandi-Van, the City and County of Honolulu’s paratransit service, this year has grown to a ridership of 946,000, up from about 820,000 in 2022 and 670,000 in 2021.
But its ability to get to those riders early or on time has suffered, dropping to about 91.2% during this fiscal year from 96.2% during fiscal year 2021.
“About 90% of the riders that used to ride TheHandi-Van are back now,” said DTS Director Roger Morton, later adding, “That’s a large number of people that we are not providing service with on-time performance.”
The update came in response to community complaints and concerns.
Morton brought up several issues contributing to the poor performance, including the lack of vehicles in TheHandi-Van fleet.
It’s often a timely process to replace parts for the city’s aging vehicles or buy new vehicles altogether, Morton said, because of a shortage of vehicles and parts.
DTS said 48 purchased vehicles for service have been arriving five at a time, and a spokesperson said it will have the entire fleet by the end of the year.
Additionally, 10 Nissan Rogue SUVs have been purchased to provide service to areas that the normal vehicles cannot access. These vehicles don’t have wheelchair accessibility, but still provide more vehicles for the fleet.
Donald Sakamoto, president of Citizens for a Fair Americans With Disabilities Act Ride and a longtime rider of TheHandi-Van, in written testimony said that the city needs to procure smaller vans instead of larger ones that cannot fit in the driveways of some people who need their service.
In Tuesday’s informational briefing, Sakamoto also mentioned missed or delayed pickups.
“We have blown runs where a driver either did not show up, a run was kicked back … and people are placed … on other vans, which delays people from being picked up,” Sakamoto told the Council.
The city’s availability
to make reservations for TheHandi-Van has also been an issue. The U.S. Department of Justice sent a complaint to the city for the poor fiscal year 2021 and 2022 performance of its call center, which clients use to make reservations.
DTS said more employees have been hired to operate the call center and that some employees are allowed to work from home. The call center’s technology was improved following the DOJ’s complaint.
One concern Morton described is DTS’ rising trends in costs. The department’s budget is over $400 million
for fiscal year 2024 and now includes running the city’s rail system, officially known as Skyline.
“The high costs are magnified now because our federal COVID-19 money is no longer available, and we are adding another $85 million in rail expenses, so we’re making it tough for our budget department,” Morton said.
Some suggestions Morton provided to combat performance issues include outsourcing some services to private providers like TheCab taxi services, which can be cheaper than internal operation costs.
He also floated the idea of increasing fares for the 100,000 nonemergency medical visits TheHandi-Van provides. DTS said that service usually is provided by private providers rather than local paratransit services, and a higher fare would be covered by Medicaid Non-Emergency Medical Transportation brokers.
He also wants to start a Medicaid-related pilot program involving federally reimbursed TheHandi-Van trips; the expansion of a city-subsidized program called the Agency-Provided Trip Program; and a pilot taxi voucher program.
