Spring 2013

We’re listening! If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at 403-537-7777 and press option #4.

Customer drop-in open houseAll Access Calgary customers are invited to attend our Access Calgary Open House on Tuesday, June 11. Customers can start dropping in after 2 p.m. and we will wrap up by 5 p.m. Access Calgary is located at 928–32nd Ave. N.E. in the Calgary Transit Spring Gardens Garage.

There will be information booths set up with knowledgeable staff to answer questions. We will provide tours of the Access Calgary Operations area. Refreshments will

be also be provided. Customers can expect to get lots of information about Access Calgary at this event!

You do not need to register for this event. For more information please contact Laura at 403-537-7861.

Agency Meeting – May 15, 2013The next Access Calgary Agency meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 15 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Calgary Transit Spring Gardens Administration Building (928–32nd Ave. N.E.). The purpose of the meeting is to share information between Access Calgary and agency staff/representatives on initiatives, programs and changes that affect transportation for people with disabilities.

The meeting is for agency staff that work with people who have disabilities, hospital or care centre staff and anyone who works as a support for Access Calgary customers. These meetings have been very well attended and space is limited. Please keep the numbers attending from your Agency to no more than 2 representatives.

Please RSVP prior to May 10 by calling 403-537-7770, press #1 if you wish to attend.

Calgary Transit’s Mission

is to provide safe,

accessible and courteous

public transportation service

in response to the needs

of our customers.

Onward/ By 2020, 100 percent of the transit fleet will be accessible to all Calgarians.

calgarytransit.com

call 403-262-1000

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Festivals and Special EventsThe spring and summer Festival season will be upon us shortly. Festivals and special events have become an important part of Calgary life and thousands are joining in the fun! The City of Calgary wants to ensure these events are enjoyed by all.

Access Calgary organizes trip requests to arrive and depart once per hour for these events. This provides customers with predictable pick up and drop off times and in turn allows us to effectively channel our resources. Access Calgary looks forward to helping our customers have a fun and enjoyable summer season.

New Travel TrainerAccess Calgary welcomed Lauren as our new Travel Trainer and Community Liaison on January 14th. Lauren has just recently finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Rehabilitation at the University of Calgary. Prior to joining Access Calgary she was working at the City of Calgary in the Recreation Department.

In her personal life Lauren was a World Bronze medalist in Synchronized Skating and now spends her free time playing dodge ball.

With Lauren’s abilities and experience, Access Calgary’s Travel Training program will be able to help many people learn how to use Calgary Transit’s accessible buses and CTrains.

Access Calgary pick up and drop off locations at Sunridge Mall

Sundridge Mall Upper LevelAlberta Health Services

Mall Entrance

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Hand-over to Caregiver PolicyThis policy applies to customers who have to be met by a caregiver at their destination. This means it is unsafe to leave the customer unattended at their destination. This customer need is identified during the eligibility process.

To ensure the safety of the customer and timely service for other customers, it is important that caregivers arrive on time at the destination to meet the customer. The arrival time can be calculated by taking the scheduled pick-up time and adding the amount of time it takes to drive directly to the drop-off location.

The late arrival of the caregiver results in drivers running late for other customers. It also has a

negative financial impact on Access Calgary because service providers are then being paid to wait instead of transporting customers.

Please note the policy for customers requiring Hand-over is as follows:• Ifafterarrivingatthedesignated

drop off location, the vehicle waits for a period of more than five minutes for the caregiver, the customer will receive a warning.

• Ifasecondoccurrencetakesplacewithin a six-month period, a two-day suspension will be issued.

• Ifathirdoccurrencetakesplacewithin a six-month period, a seven-day suspension will be issued and the guardian/caregiver will be required to meet with Access Calgary to address the concern.

• Shouldafourthoccurrencetakeplace within a six-month period, the customer will require a

personal care attendant for all trips where a Hand-over is required.

At any step of this process, Access Calgary may meet with you to review your service needs.

Customers may appeal suspensions to the Access Calgary Service Appeal Board.

Lost and Found Please remember to take all of your items with you when you arrive at your destination. It is not always easy to match the lost item to the correct customer.

Please keep your items on your lap or double check that you have not left something behind when you get out of the vehicle.

Farewell to Rick PrestonAfter spending seven years with Access Calgary, Rick Preston – Call Centre Supervisor has made the decision to retire this summer. Rick started with Access Calgary in October of 2005 as Coordinator of Customer Service. Before joining Access Calgary, he worked at HandiBus as a Supervisor in Safety and Training. Rick also had had a long career with Canadian Airlines and Air Canada.

Rick has been involved with all facets of Access Calgary operations and technology changes. His primary focus was on meeting the daily trip booking needs of customers and scheduling staff to deliver the best service possible. He was a wiz at emergency operations, jumping into action when computer systems or phones would go down! He mobilized staff and coordinated the workflow to minimize the impact on our customers.

We will miss his experience, and more importantly his kind nature and sense of humour. We wish him the very best as he starts the next well deserved phase of his life.

Thanks, Rick for your contribution to citizens of Calgary and your incredible dedication and support. We will miss you.

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Henry – Calgary HandiBus July

Paul – Calgary HandiBus August

Lisa – Calgary HandiBus October

Andy – Calgary HandiBus July

Ab – Calgary HandiBus September

Abdul – Checker Cabs November

Brian – Calgary HandiBus August

Fadi – Southland October

Driver Recognition AwardsThe Access Calgary Advisory Committee selected the following drivers for the Driver Recognition award. Two drivers are selected randomly from commendations sent in by you. Please keep sending in your commendations for exceptional drivers to Access Calgary Customer Service at 403-537-7777 and press option #4.

(1st repeat winner!)

Eyob – Checker Cabs November

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Ali – Southland December Baldish – Checkers Cabs December Jim – Southland January/13

Gurbax – Checker Cabs January/13 Bruce – Calgary HandiBus January/13

Size of Mobility AidsAccess Calgary provides a shared ride transportation

service to people who are not always able to use

Calgary Transit. That sounds pretty clear but what

limits our ability to effectively use our resources

is when people are limited to only certain vehicles

because of the size of their mobility aid. It is really

important that you try to keep your mobility aid

as small as possible so that you could use any of

our vehicles. Please work with your Occupational

Therapist to find a mobility aid that works for you

and will fit on our vehicles. If your mobility aid

is larger than 32” wide by 48” long we may not

be able to provide transportation for you. Please

contact your Eligibility Specialist at 403-573-7770

if you have any changes with your mobility aid.

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ACROBAT UpgradeIn October of 2012, Access Calgary upgraded its automated confirmation and cancellation line (ACROBAT). The menu options within ACROBAT remain basically the same; however the caller is given more details regarding their trips and the option to cancel one or all of their trips on a specific date.

If you have any questions regarding the new ACROBAT system, please feel free to chat with a Passenger Agent by calling 403-537-7777 and choosing option #2.

Summer Travel Training CampCalgary Transit, Calgary Board of

Education and Calgary Catholic

School District are joining together

to provide the Get on Board Travel

Training Summer Camp.

At the camp, participants can expect

to learn: how to use Calgary Transit

services, the cost to ride Calgary

Transit, how long a transfer is valid

for, when to use the Help intercom,

why you need to stand behind the

yellow line and where their lost items

on Calgary Transit end up.

Participants are youth (age 14 – 18)

with a disability who would like to

learn how to use Calgary Transit.

Participants need to fill in an

application form that will be available

from the Access Calgary website or

their school by the end of May.

Camp takes place at City Hall School

in the municipal building in three

sessions that run consecutively from

July 15 – 18 or July 22 – 25, and

July 29 – Aug 1. Sessions are a

half-day long (morning or afternoon).

The fee for camp is $25 which is

refunded if the participant attends

the whole session.

For more information or if you have

questions, please call our Travel

Trainer at 403-537-7862.

No Show Door HangerDid you miss your bus? Is it just running late? Should you call Access Calgary to find out where it is? Should you just wait a few more minutes?

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do. Access Calgary will be running a pilot program with Calgary HandiBus Association and Southland Transportation to leave a notice on your home door letting you know we’ve been there and have left. Once you see this notice you then have no doubt that you have missed your ride. If you still want a ride you can contact Access Calgary right away.

We will be using these new door hangers at residential homes that have their own exterior door first. We will let you know once common areas for all other types of buildings are agreed upon. Look for an update in our fall newsletter.

We Missed You!

If you still require a ride for today,

please contact Access Calgary at

403-537-7777 and press option 3.

Dear:

Pick-Up Time and Location

Run No. DateTime of No-Show

Thank You!

Registration No.

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2012 Statistics

Trips 2012 2011

Total shared-ride trips provided 1,022,273 985,747

Preschool trips through Calgary HandiBus 46,443 48,415

Access Calgary Extra trips 49,760 56,371

Total number of Trips Provided 1,118,476 1,090,533

Unaccommodated prior day trips 1,521 3,871

Phone calls

Phone calls – Operations 507,221 509,806

Phone calls – Eligibility Services 14,152 14,234

Phone calls – Acrobat (automated telephone system) 563,492 526,351

Eligibility applications

Interviews 2,771 2,034

Care center applications, ADSP’s, etc. 4,853 3,853

Appeals 30 17

Service MonitoringOur one Field Supervisor has been run off his feet trying

to monitor Access Calgary service on the road! In 2012

he has investigated over 375 concerns and performed

250 Facility checks. Not to mention the over 200 travel

time checks. Access Calgary is in the process of hiring

an additional Field Supervisor to help make sure our

customers are receiving good service. This will provide

more opportunity to be out in the community and

address issues or concerns. Look for more information

in the fall newsletter.

8

2013

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Tell your friends and family!This newsletter is available on the Access Calgary website.

Go to: accesscalgary.com and click on Newsletters in the left-hand column.

If you would like to receive an electronic copy of this newsletter, or would prefer it in a different sized font, please call 403-537-7770.

Contact numbersAccess Calgary Operations 403-537-7777

From the voice menu, make your choice from the following:

#1 Acrobat (24 hours daily), – Automated telephone system.

#2 Advance bookings (daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), – Request a trip or trip change.

#3 Same-day booking inquiries (daily 6 a.m. to midnight), – Includes stand-by requests, late bus inquiries and same-day cancellations.

#4 Customer service (Mon. to Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), – Feedback, service concerns, compliments or general information.

#5 Eligibility services (Mon. to Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), – Apply for or renew registration or change personal information.

#6 Holiday hours. TTY (daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) 403-537-7977

Access Calgary Eligibility Services (Mon. to Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) 403-537-7770

Access Calgary website accesscalgary.com

Calgary Transit website calgarytransit.com

Did you know?The best time to call to request a trip is after 11 a.m.

Congratulations to all of you!

Our customers’ satisfaction is important to us. Thank you for taking the time to let us know you appreciate the service. If you’d like to submit a commendation for one of our employees, or if you have a concern about our service, contact Customer Service at 403-537-7777 and press option #4.

Doug B

Kim H

Blanca F (2)

Wendy M (7)

Devon Y (8)

Amber S (2)

Karen R (2)

Mary F (4)

Jennifer C

Elizabeth F (2)

Judy G (2)

Philip W (2)

Christine L

Jodi D

Ryan Y

Yasmin D (3)

Lorraine D (2)

Bruce S (2)

Olean H

David H (2)

Joanna S

Richard B

Access Calgary employee recognitionsOur customers have noticed the great work our staff does.

Access Calgary is pleased to take this opportunity to recognize our employees who received customer commendations. They are: