Access-A-Ride riders left stranded in cold

Many disabled passengers who rely on the New York Transit Authority’s Access-A-Ride system found themselves stranded on one of the coldest days of the year due to a computer problem on Friday, January 26.
Many customers were left waiting curbside in the 10-degree weather with no way to track their ride when the computer crashed at approximately12:15 p.m.
“When people called and asked ‘Where’s my ride?’ they were told there was no way to tell,” Michael A. Harris of the Disabled Riders Coalition said. The coalition was flooded with complaints by riders being stranded in sub-zero wind chills because of the computer failure.
The computer problem left NYC Transit unable to take reservations, schedule trips, or provide information on trips to Access-A-Ride users. According to Harris, the Transit Authority opened up to Access-A-Ride users on Saturday so that no one would be left without a ride on Monday due to this crash.
“This is not the first time that this has happened recently and caused serious problems for Access-A-Ride users throughout the city who rely on the system,” said Harris. “The TA is failing disabled riders and with all the problems that riders face, they ought to re-name the program ‘Distress-A-Ride.’ ”
Normal service was not restored until approximately 6 p.m. when the computer came back on line.