§ 19-601.8. Rider accommodations.

Personal care attendant. A personal care attendant (PCA) may accompany a registered paratransit rider at no additional charge. The rider's file must indicate that he is eligible to have a PCA travel with him. He must reserve space for his PCA when scheduling the trip. If a vehicle is dispatched for a passenger who utilizes a PCA and the PCA is not available, and it is determined that a PCA is no longer required, documentation to this effect may be required by El Metro.

Guests. Guests are welcome to ride with the rider for seventy-five cents ($0.75) per trip. Due to limited space, each rider is allowed one (1) guest per trip. Riders must reserve space for guests (including children) when scheduling a trip. Seating for more than one (1) guest is on a "space available" basis when scheduling trips. Children accompanying a rider are considered traveling guests. Children under the age of five (5) must be accompanied by an adult.

Special note: PCAs and guests must have the same origin and destination points as the eligible demand-response passenger. Trips with the purpose of accommodating any guest and/or PCA (pickups and dropoffs) are not allowed.

Packages. Carry-on packages are limited to two (2) grocery bags or similar-sized packages on board the paratransit vehicles. Operators are not allowed to assist the rider carrying the packages to and from the same sidewalk or waiting area where the rider boards.

Visitors. Out-of-town visitors who are ADA eligible may access El Lift paratransit services. Visitors must contact the El Lift office, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at [phone], no later than one (1) week before service is required. Visitors to the El Metro service area are eligible to receive services from for a period of twenty-one (21) days each year. Beyond twenty-one (21) days, visitors are required to follow the eligibility process which has been established for residents.

Service animals. Guide dogs and other service animals are allowed to accompany riders if this need is indicated in their files. Riders should inform scheduling if a service animal will be accompanying them when scheduling trips.

Subscription service. Subscription service is limited to riders traveling to the same place at the same time at least three (3) times a week for a minimum period of one hundred twenty (120) days. El Lift reserves the right to restrict and/or prioritize subscription service to maintain a maximum level of fifty (50) percent as required by the ADA, when there is no excess demand capacity available. El Lift will terminate any subscription service that is canceled fifty (50) percent or more of the time during any thirty-day period, or if there is a consistent pattern of cancellations of any part of a subscription. Before the one-hundred-twenty-day minimum expires, the passenger will be required to reapply for subscription services.

Eligible passengers can schedule subscriptions for repetitive trips for employment, school, and acute medical treatment (i.e., kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and physical therapy.) To maximize multiloading, pickup times will be negotiated up to one (1) hour before or after the pickup time requested by the passenger.

(Ord. No. 2005-O-338, § 1(8), 12-19-05)