RID 2.25.5 - NSLC Policy.pdf

OTA/THE RIDE –

NO SHOW/LATE CANCELLATION

Document No. OTA-2025-01

9/8/2025 Revision No. 1.2

This procedure is the property of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It must not be reproduced in whole or in part or otherwise disclosed without prior written consent.

The official controlled copy of this procedure is the digitally signed PDF document available to all authorized users. All printed copies, and all electronic copies and versions, except the one described above, are considered uncontrolled copies which should be used for reference only.

RID 2.25.5

MBTA OTA/THE RIDE | NO SHOW /LATE CANCELLATION POLICY

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MBTA (OTA/The RIDE) | [Document No.OTA-2025-01 | 9/8/2025 Page 2 of 9

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DOCUMENT CONTROL PAGE

COMPLETED BY: ANN OSBORNE

DOCUMENT NUMBER OTA-2025-01

DOCUMENT TITLE NO SHOW /LATE CANCELLATION POLICY

DEPARTMENT OWNER [FULL NAME OF DEPARTMENT]

DOCUMENT TYPE PROCEDURE

STATUS FINAL

VERSION NO.REVISION

NO.

1.2

ISSUED DATE 09/08/2025

FILENAME [DEPT ACRONYM_DOCTYPE_ABBREV-PROCEDURE-

NAME_STATUS_VERSION NO-REVISION NO_YEARMONTHDAY]

COMPLETED BY: ELIZABETH WIESNER

MASS. SCHEDULE

NUMBER

A02-03(A)

MASS. SCHEDULE NAME POLICY, PROCEDURE AND SUBSTANSTIVE SUPPOORT MATERIALS.

CFR OR CMR CODE N/A

SECURITY SENSITIVE NO

REVIEW CADENCE 1 YEAR

NEXT REVIEW DATE 1 YEAR FROM ISSUE

SUPERSEDES DOC

TITLE(S)

ORIGINAL

SUPERSEDES DOC NO(S) [SUPERSEDES DOCUMENT NUMBER(S)

Prepared By Name Meghann Ackerman Title Deputy Director

Communications

Controlled by Name Elizabeth Wiesner Title Director Strategic Initiatives and Engagement

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Reviewed By Name Mike Hulak Title Director Paratransit

Operations

Reviewed By Name Chris Jurek Title Deputy Chief Paratransit

Services

Authorized By Name Michele Stiehler Title Chief Paratransit Services

REVIEWED AND AUTHORIZED BY:

Signature Date Title Director Paratransit Operations

Signature Date Title Deputy Chief Paratransit Services

Signature Date Title Chief Paratransit Services

REVISION HISTORY

REVISION NO. COMMENT ISSUED DATE

1.2 Include page no. and context of changes made. 01/07/2024

Include page no. and context of changes made. MM/DD/YYYY

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CONTENTS

1.0 PURPOSE

These operating procedures apply to OTA and contractor personnel and are meant to accompany the MBTA No-

Show/Late Cancellation policy.

2.0 SCOPE

Reserved

3.0 REFERENCES & RELATED DOCUMENTS

Reserved

4.0 N/ADEFINITIONS & ABBREVIATIONS

Pickup Window

The pickup window is the 20-minute period within which a RIDE vehicle may arrive for a pickup. The window begins five minutes before the scheduled pickup time and extends 15 minutes beyond the pickup time.

Wait Time

On arrival at the pickup location, vehicle operators must wait for at least five minutes after the start of the scheduled pickup time for a customer to board the vehicle. See No-show procedures.

No-show (NS)

A no-show occurs when the customer does not appear for the pickup and the following conditions apply:

▪ The vehicle arrives at the correct pickup location within pickup window

▪ The driver waits for at least five minutes after the start of the scheduled pickup time and informs dispatch

▪ Dispatch attempts to contact the customer but does not make contact

See no-show discussion for instances when customers inform the driver they cannot travel upon arrival during the pickup window.

Late Cancellation (LC)

MBTA policy allows customers to cancel trips up to an hour prior to the scheduled time. Cancellations made within one hour are late cancellations. The MBTA encourages customers canceling trips to call TRAC up to the scheduled time. Rules for the IVR and web portal prevent late trip cancellations (within the last hour before scheduled pickup).

5.0 ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

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Responsible parties include OTA and TRAC staff and contracted service providers.

6.0 PROCEDURE

Instructions

Coding No-Shows and Late Cancellations

The following procedures apply to vehicle operators and dispatchers who are required to ensure accurate coding of no-shows (NS), late cancellations (LC), and missed trips. These procedures should be incorporated into operating contracts for all RIDE service providers and included in operator and dispatcher training.

If the Customer Does Not Appear

▪ Upon arrival at the pickup location, vehicle operators must notify dispatch of an apparent NS and wait until dispatch approves the NS before proceeding.

▪ Dispatch (or dispatch assistant) should confirm the vehicle is at the correct location.

▪ Dispatch should check the vehicle arrival time to confirm arrival is within the window and the operator has waited at least five minutes after the scheduled pickup time.

▪ Dispatch should attempt to call the Customer using phone numbers associated with the trip record.

▪ Dispatch should record details of each of these steps in dispatch notes for each approved NS.

▪ Dispatch should never code trips as NS or LC when the vehicle arrives after the window ends.

If the Customer Appears

The coding of instances when a customer informs a driver that they do not wish to travel is tied to the time the driver arrives at the pickup location, as follows:

▪ Before the start of the window: Late Cancellation (LC)

▪ Within the window: No Show (NS)

▪ After the end of the window: Missed Trip

Dispatchers should enter “customer informed driver no longer want trip.”

Reviewing Data

The following discussion outlines the monthly procedures for TRAC and OTA staff assigned to the NSLC team.

References to specific databases assume new or improved tools are available to generate reports and to confirm time synchronization between different software tools.

Monthly Reviews and Prioritization of Customers with Excessive No-Shows/Late Cancellations

The following staff procedures will identify and prioritize those customers violating the NSLC policy:

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▪ During its monthly trip reconciliation process, TRAC will review trip records with no-shows or late cancellations as follows:

▪ For no-shows, confirm operating procedures were followed and documented and make any necessary corrections.

▪ For late cancellations, confirm the cancellation was less than one hour before the scheduled pickup time and make any necessary corrections.

▪ Using the reconciled data, TRAC will run a trip history report for the customers with at least seven NSLCs and determine if the NSLCs represent at least 20% of the customer’s trips during the prior month.

▪ TRAC will rank the remaining customers from highest to lowest and transmit the ranked list to OTA.

▪ OTA staff will then independently research the customer trip records to confirm the above NSLC reconciliation procedures were followed.

▪ OTA staff will note any adjustments within the trip record, and re-rank the remaining customers from highest to lowest.

▪ OTA staff will also review historical data to identify riders on the re-ranked list who have received prior warnings or suspension notices.

Communicating with Customers

Depending on available resources, and beginning with the customers with the most NSLCs, OTA staff will issue written warning or suspension notices (with documentation) according to MBTA policy as follows:

Warnings and Service Suspensions for Violating MBTA No-Show/Late Cancel Policy

▪ Occurrence* ▪ Warning/Suspension

▪ 1st occurrence ▪ Written warning

▪ 2nd occurrence ▪ 1 week

▪ 3rd occurrence ▪ 2 weeks

▪ 4th or subsequent occurrences

▪ 4 weeks

* Within a 12-month period

OTA staff will keep records of all warning/proposed suspension letters sent to customers.

Depending on available resources, OTA staff will also send courtesy letters to other customers indicating they have violated the policy. Courtesy letters will list trips with a NS or LC but not include warnings or suspensions.

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Addressing Customer Challenges to NSLCs

The following procedures will be used by NSLC team members to document, research, and dismiss or confirm customer challenges to charged NSLCs:

▪ Anyone identified as part of the NSLC team is empowered to field customer NSLC inquiries, dismiss/confirm challenges, and document results in an NSLC challenge database.

▪ When customers contact the NSLC team to dispute any trips including via the dedicated phone line for leaving messages (617-222-1550), staff will enter the customer’s name and ID, trip date and coding (NS or

LC), and customer-provided information into the NSLC database.

▪ If the customer-provided information is sufficient to dismiss the NS or LC without additional staff research, staff will inform the customer of the dismissal and record the results in the NSLC database.

▪ If further research is needed, staff will inform the customer that OTA will conduct further review and follow up with the customer with its findings.

▪ Staff will then decide whether to dismiss or confirm trips in question and add additional notes to the NSLC database. Staff will communicate the results to the customer.

▪ Staff will correct coding for dismissed NSLCs in the database.

▪ Staff will adjust the totals accordingly and review the total trip history to determine if the customer is still subject to the warning/suspension policy.

▪ Staff will contact customers still facing service suspensions and remind them of their appeal rights.

▪ Staff will change the coding of dismissed NSLCs in the RIDE trip management system accordingly.

▪ Each month, staff will generate a list of NSLCs dismissed following challenges to ensure the policy and procedures are applied consistently.

Time Stamping

OTA should regularly work with IT support to ensure time entries in different software tools are synchronized to ensure the precise time of trip cancellations and the scheduled pickup time are linked. Cancellations are coded in one of three ways:

▪ Advance cancellation (prior to the day of travel)

▪ Same-day cancellation (one hour or more before the scheduled departure time

▪ Late cancellation (less than one hour before the scheduled departure time)

Time stamps govern whether a customer’s trip cancellation violates OTA policy (i.e., less than one hour before scheduled pickup).

Cancellation records should also note how cancellations are made such as contact with a reservationist, IVR, or online.

Information Technology Needs

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New tools are needed to automatically generate reports of customers who accumulate an excessive number of no-shows and late cancellations each calendar month. Requirements are described below.

Coding Dismissed No-Shows and Late Cancellations

New trip status codes are needed to record dismissed no-shows and dismissed late cancellations based on determinations made by NSLC staff. If trips have initially been coded as no-shows or late cancellations, and customers subsequently provide information showing the no-show or late cancel was in error or beyond their control, OTA staff will be able to go into the system and change the coding to Excused No-Show or Excused Late

Cancel.

Identifying and Analyzing Frequent Violations

▪ Using finalized trip status data, tabulate all NSLCs by customer.

▪ Flag customers with seven or more NSLCs.

▪ Permit OTA staff to filter date ranges to generate a list of customers with at least seven NSLCs and rank customers in descending order.

Reviewing, Tracking, and Reporting No-Shows and Late Cancellations

▪ For each customer, list all no-show and late cancellation occurrences with trip number, trip date, and trip coding (NS or CXL).

▪ Include a means for tracking all NSLC instances that customers challenge, including customer name, NS/LC date, a text field to enter customer-provided justification for dismissal, text field for NSLC staff to enter comments, and resolution of the challenge (dismissed or upheld).

▪ Generate reports of upheld and dismissed challenges.

Database of Warnings and Suspensions

NSLC staff require a reliable database of proposed and actual suspension. This should include/provide staff capability for the following:

▪ All customers receiving warning/proposed suspension letters each month

▪ Total trips requested each month

▪ All charged NSLCs and percentage of total trips this represents

▪ Recode any challenged and excluded NSLCs

▪ Auto calculate unexcused NSLCs for the month and updated percentage of total trips

▪ Track appeal requests, hearing dates, and outcomes

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▪ Report the dates and length of any implemented suspensions

▪ Enter data on warnings/proposed suspensions, appeal requests, scheduled appeals, appeal outcomes, and suspension periods.

▪ Report past suspension history for each customer

▪ Minimize data entry by linking information from different data sources.

Exceptions

Reserved

7.0 CONTACTS

For questions or feedback on this Procedure, please contact the Meghan Ackermann of Deputy Director of

Communications.

8.0 APPENDICES

Reserved