The city's paratransit ridership plummeted during the pandemic. Facing a driver shortage, service sees 'hiccups' as use increases.

May 5—On a recent Friday morning, Donald Burns stepped outside his apartment to catch a ride to a doctor's appointment on the West Side.

The Uber driver, Darla Bronson, was friendly — probably because Bronson has known Burns for over a year since she hit it off with Burns' wife, Nancy, during one drive. Now, Bronson swings by whenever the couple needs a lift.

Burns said she's become part of the family; Bronson even attended Nancy's birthday party.

"She's got me," Burns said.

For the past two months, Burns has been riding with Bronson instead of Sun Van.

The 85-year-old blind veteran rode the city of Albuquerque's paratransit service for more than 15 years. But when Nancy was hospitalized in February, he stopped using the service.

"I had no choice," he said.

Sun Van was a "wonderful service" before the pandemic, Burns said. But lately he has experienced long waits on the phone and other issues that have made him wary of using the service, especially for health care appointments.

Sun Van is the Transit Department's free point-to-point transportation service — think a shared Uber ride — for people with disabilities in Albuquerque. Riders schedule pickups in advance, and drivers have a 30-minute window to arrive. Sometimes, multiple riders are picked up along the way.

Like bus ridership in the city, Sun Van use plummeted during the pandemic. In the years since, use has been increasing, including after a policy change last year allowing people to self-certify their disabilities. But as the service faces a driver shortage amid recovering rider numbers, some longtime passengers are reporting problems. A Journal review of more than 600 complaints in 2023 showed frequent concerns about late van arrivals and challenges calling for appointment times and getting in touch with customer service.

By the numbersIn 2020, the close-quarters transit saw a more than 80% reduction in ridership. In February 2020, the service completed 20,600 one-way rides. Two months later, that had fallen to 3,800.

That number has climbed back to 15,900, about three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels. In March, the service received 127 applications for use, the greatest number between January 2019 and today.

Megan Holcomb, a spokesperson for the Transit Department, said the increase in ridership is in part a recovery from the pandemic. But another factor — a policy change from last year that made the application process simpler — could have led to the growth in ridership as well. Between this year and last, the number of Sun Van riders has increased 8%, Holcomb said.

Transit officials said the change removed "unnecessary barriers" by shortening the paper application, creating an online application option and allowing some interviews to be conducted on Zoom or over the phone rather than in person. The policy change also allowed for would-be riders to self-attest how their disability affects their ability to ride public transportation. In the past, the application process required "medical verification," meaning a health care provider would have to fill out part of the form. Now, a medical waiver suffices, which allows ABQ Ride to contact a health care provider instead to clarify information.

COVID-19 recovery, zero fares and the policy changes all contributed to the increasing number of applications, Transit officials said.

As ridership has increased, so has the number of long rides lasting more than 105 minutes, from 135 in 2020 to 652 in 2023, according to data reported by Transit.

On-time pickups, within the 30-minute window, dropped from 91.3% in 2020 to 80% in 2023.

Ernie Esquibel said Sun Van helped him "regain some of (his) independence."

About a year ago, he became a member of the Paratransit Advisory Board to give insight about the experience of Sun Van riders. He was experiencing some issues, including late van arrivals and long drive times as other riders were picked up. He said he's noticed improvement with the service as more drivers have been hired.

"When it works well, it works well," Esquibel said. "Like with every company, they may have their hiccups here and there ... but Sun Van tries to correct that and make it better."

Driver payBurns said he'd like the city to apply for federal grants to increase driver salaries to reduce staff losses, and potentially implement incentives, such as those given to police officers, to retain staff.

Hiring incentives target those applying for motor coach operator positions, up to $5,000 for people who already have a commercial driver's license, but currently none are available for Sun Van operators.

Regardless, the department has been whittling down vacancies. In December 2022, the Journal reported there were 32 vacancies . By March 2023, that had fallen to 28. This month, it dropped to 22 — about 1 in 4 driver positions. The department has pushed rapid-hiring events to increase staffing in all areas of transit, and there are currently 16 potential Sun Van chauffeur applications in the hopper.

"You can't blame the drivers," Burns said. "They work their hearts out."

Esquibel said the hours and shifts can also be difficult for new drivers, some of whom he said report working many days in a row and having little time for their families.

Currently, Sun Van drivers could make more money as a city bus driver.

Before 2022, new bus drivers made 10% more than new Sun Van drivers. That year, ABQ Ride announced raises in an effort to make pay more competitive and attract new drivers. Both types of drivers received pay bumps, but the gap between their starting pay widened.

The shortage has affected the call-when-ready service. Holcomb said customer service representatives have reported complaints about ride availability.

"Because we're short-staffed, we don't have the amount of people we normally would to be able to meet the demand," Holcomb said. "I know folks have been having some challenges finding rides that are at the times they want."

Make some 'ripples'Burns said when he emerged from surgery after having skin cancer removed from his arm, he waited outside in 100-degree weather to be connected with a dispatcher. When he was connected, he was told the van was running late.

"I stood out there for over two hours," Burns said.

Chris Williams, who is legally blind, has ridden Sun Van for the past seven years, to and from work at the New Mexico Commission for the Blind and to other places in the city.

"It lets me be independent," Williams said. "If I plan it, I'm able to just about get anywhere."

Recently, however, he's noticed a change in the service.

Lately, Williams has found himself waiting on the phone for at least 45 minutes to reach a Sun Van dispatcher. The longest he's waited is around an hour and a half. Sometimes, he said, the line will disconnect.

Holcomb said on average in March, callers were waiting to be connected to a dispatcher for a little more than 11 minutes. The department is working on finding software to allow riders to book their own rides online and an automated routing system to give people an option to get a call back, rather than wait on the line. Sun Van rides need to be booked several days in advance.

"We do see really long queue times first thing in the morning, and then it kind of trickles down throughout the day," Holcomb said. "We would very much like to encourage folks to call throughout the day instead of first thing in the morning, so then they're likely to experience less waiting time."

This isn't the only time Williams has struggled with the service. He said some drivers don't come to the door, or they knock on the security door to his apartment instead of ringing the doorbell, he said — a noise too faint for Williams to hear. It recently took him about two hours to get home from work after a driver didn't come to the door and marked him as a no-show.

"It's kind of frustrating," Williams said.

Some riders have changed how they use the service; Williams said he sometimes rides Sun Van one way, but will use Uber when he's unsure what time he'll be ready to go home. Esquibel said he usually schedules an appointment now, rather than using the pick-up when ready service, and makes sure he's waiting outside before a driver arrives.

Delays left Kathryn Hall "cussing up a storm" on Valentine's Day as she tried to catch a ride to a slam poetry event. Hall stands out with a distinctive rainbow crochet cowboy hat — she said drivers call her the "Rainbow Rider."

On Feb. 14, Hall's Sun Van ride was running late. Opting to take the bus instead, Hall ended up arriving late to the event, which had already closed its doors.

"It was something I had planned for about a month ... I made that trip all the way down there for nothing," she said.

Hall thinks that drivers are overbooked, especially when they have to drive across town to pick up other riders. But her experiences have pushed her to advocate to improve the city's transportation.

"It's a drop in the pond," Hall said. "But that drop hopefully starts making some ripples and we can improve the situation."