Disabled Need Good Van Service

The Orange County Transportation Authority operates a special van service for the disabled who cannot use regular buses. The clients are fragile and need special attention. It’s up to OCTA to ensure they receive it.

Last month several elderly passengers were kept on a van for hours while a driver and a navigator wandered around South County looking for an address that did not exist. One of the passengers was on the van for five hours.

Laidlaw Transit Services Inc. operates the van under a contract with the county. OCTA recommended that the company fire the driver and navigator, which Laidlaw did. That penalty was not overly harsh, given the easy remedies available. OCTA said the driver’s cell phone and radio did not work. In that case he certainly should have used a public telephone to seek assistance.

The matter is more worrisome because this week Laidlaw became the sole provider of what is called the OCTA Access program. Previously, the van service was divided among Laidlaw, other private companies and OCTA’s own vehicles.

OCTA says it will save $1.5 million each year by giving Laidlaw a monopoly on the Access program. The agency also says that having one company as the sole provider will increase accountability.

Accountability is always desirable. But so is a program that treats the disabled efficiently and respectfully. OCTA must have a backup plan in the event problems arise for Laidlaw. The service is vital to people who have no other means of getting to medical appointments as well as to day care centers that serve the disabled.