Policy Manual for RideLink Providers February 2011 Who can ride on RideLink? Any resident of Kent County over the age of 60 is eligible to ride on RideLink. All trips in RideLink will include both subscription and one-time trips. How do clients register? There will be one system for registration. Clients can register on line at http://therapid.greenride.ene.com/ridelink/, by calling the call center (616-774- 1288 or 1-866-425-3848) and requesting a form be sent to them by mail or register with one of the partnering agencies. Rides will not be prioritized and will include current seniors and new clients. Personal Care Attendants (PCA) are allowed when necessary. Abusers of this policy will be addressed as needed. How far in advance can rides be scheduled? RideLink rides can be scheduled up to seven days in advance. Rides can be scheduled for the next day no later than noon the day before. (By noon on Friday for Monday trips.) How are rides scheduled and who provides them? Ride scheduling will be completed by trip scheduling software using the most logical fit for rides and efficiencies will be adjusted as needed. RideLink service must be appropriate to client, e.g. door-to-door, door-thru-door, or curb-to-curb, and/or accessibility. The capacity of the vehicles will be noted in the software system. It is the responsibility of the providers to keep the call center informed of vehicle capacity including use of new vehicles, lift malfunctions, etc. Drivers are permitted to re-work his/her manifest and work it in the best way he/she can to provide the scheduled trips on time. If this happens on a regular basis, especially with standing order trips, please notify the Ridelink call-taker to discuss possible solutions. A passenger can be on board a RideLink vehicle for up to 90 minutes. How are procedural issues handled? (e.g. weather cancellations, seatbelt, and grievance) RideLink will use standardized procedures for all RideLink trips, and will include grievance, seatbelt, and inclement weather policies. Weather cancellations and late trips will be called by individual agencies into the Rapid s call center. If the
Rapid cancels fixed-route service, all specialized services will be cancelled. Client phone numbers will be added to manifests for drivers to call in case of emergencies. What is the policy for on-time trips, both drop-offs and pickups? RideLink pickups are considered on-time if a passenger is picked up between fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after a schedule time. RideLink dropoffs are considered on-time if a passengers is dropped off no later than ten minutes before the scheduled appointment time. How should funders notify the Rapid when a vehicle is unavailable for service? If a provider knows a vehicle is not available due to holidays or other planned closures, (for example prescheduled routine maintenance, special agency trips) they will need to provide two weeks notice to the call center. What happens if a vehicle breaks down? In case of a down vehicle, the provider will find seats for the displaced passengers. The providing agency will notify the call center of their situation and contact each passenger to cancel their trip. When is a trip counted as a no-show? A no-show is defined as a person not being available or able to board and ride the vehicle within five (5) minutes of its on-time arrival. Rides may be impacted without regular attendance. Any person with a pattern of repeated no-shows may have his or her RideLink privileges suspended. In case of a no-show the following policy will be adhered to: Driver knocks on door. If no response, driver calls the house (number should be on roster). If no response, driver calls the call center. Any person with a pattern of repeated no-shows or late cancels may have his or her RideLink privileges suspended.
What is a will-call trip? A will-call trip is a trip home from a medical appointment with no set return times scheduled. Will-calls must be called into the call center before 3:00 p.m. where they will be dispatched to the provider who gave the initial ride. Will-call trips will be listed on the providers roster. If not available, a different provider will be asked to accept the will-call ride. Service is limited by time of day and riders may be responsible for their own ride home if the will-call is after 3:00 p.m. The willcall policy will be used for medical trips only. What is the recommended donation for rides? To fulfill the Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan s (AAAWM) requirement to be able to accept monetary donations for rides, secured boxes will be added to all vehicles. The boxes will be paid for by AAAWM. The recommended donation is $2.00 per ride. The primary funding source for all RideLink rides is AAAWM. There will be no income verification or attestation. Every time a trip is scheduled, the call taker will inform the caller of the $2.00 donation per trip. Drivers are also required to remind the passengers about the $2.00 donation. Who governs the RideLink program? RideLink will be governed by the same group of funders and providers that originally conceived and designed the program. In the future, three additional policy members will be invited to the governing meetings to provide visionary ideas and review of the program including marketing, sales and growth, information flow, review of schedules and timeliness of rides, funding issues and trending, productivity, growth plan and next steps, trend tracking of grievances, and policy changes. These individuals have yet to be identified. What are RideLink hours and how do I contact them? Office Hours: 7:00 AM-5:00 PM, Monday-Friday Operational Hours: 7:30AM-4:30 PM, Monday-Friday Phone Number: 616-774-1288 or 866-425-3848 No new ride reservations will be accepted for the next day after 12:00 PM the day before so rosters can be created for the providers. Persons with a need for emergency rides will need to contact the providers directly.
Service Door-to-door will be the standard drop-off and pick-up policy, unless noted in the comments section that a client requires extra assistance. Special comments will print automatically and be listed on the manifest. Requests for same day service will be accepted on an as available basis. Same day service cannot be guaranteed. All trips should be scheduled in advance. The policy is to provide the trip if at all possible. RideLink does not provide emergency medical transportation. Packages Passengers are limited to two (2) grocery bags on RideLink vehicles. Passenger Behavior and Conduct Passengers who have a pattern or practice of engaging in violent, illegal or seriously disruptive behavior will be notified and will be subject to suspension of RideLink service. Agencies who transport a passenger who engages in such behavior should notify the RideLink office immediately so corrective action can be taken. A phone call and email to the Ridelink Call Center as well as an email to the Specialized Services Manager and AAAWM staff is required. Service Day When a trip is assigned to an agency, the passenger becomes that agency s responsibility. If for some reason, the agency cannot provide the trip, it is the agency s responsibility to let the RideLink Call center know immediately to see if other arrangements can be made, however, the trip remains the responsibility of the agency. If for some reason the agency chooses not to pick-up a passenger, it is the agency s responsibility to let the RideLink call center know immediately what other arrangements have been made for that passenger. IT IS THE AGENCY S RESPONSIBILITY TO ARRANGE FOR ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION, I.E., A TAXICAB. The cost of the taxi ride will be reimbursed by KCSM up to the provider s unit rate. It is also the agency s responsibility in this case to provide an incident report (via email) to Ridelink Call Center as well as an email to the Specialized Services Manager and AAAWM staff explaining why the decision was made.
Driver Concerns If and when a driver expresses concern about the well-being of a client to someone at one of the partner agencies, steps should be taken by the agency to make an appropriate referral for services for the client. If the concern leads the agency to the conclusion that the passenger should not be a passenger on RideLink, the agency must notify RideLink immediately via a phone call to RideLink as Ridelink Call Center as well as an email to the Specialized Services Manager and AAAWM staff with an explanation of the situation. Record Keeping Agencies are required to keep records of all trips. Clients should be calling RideLink to schedule and cancel all trips. If a client calls a provider agency to do either of these things, they should be directed to call the RideLink call center (774-1288 or 1-866-425-3848) to take care of that. As drivers proceed on their routes, they should be noting if a passenger does not go by recording a NS next to the client s name. If the client cancels at the door, that should again be recorded as a NS. The definition of a NS is a trip that does not occur because the client is not available or able to board and ride the vehicle within five (5) minutes of its on time arrival or if a passenger calls less than 30 minutes before the scheduled time to cancel the trip. The call center makes every attempt to contact drivers as cancellations come into the office. Someone from the providing agency needs to record all cancels and NSs on a daily basis and get that information to the RideLink call center on a daily basis. NSs should be called in as they occur, so that when the passenger calls looking for a ride, the call center staff will know if someone has been there for them already or not. When calling in a NS, drivers should be ready to explain the circumstances, for example. went to the door of the blue house no answer or client said she was not going or whatever applies in the situation. RideLink call center keeps records for Area Agency on Aging and Kent County Health Department on number of client trips and ethnicity data. Origination date: 1-30-07 Revised: 4/28/10 Revised 2/28/11