INQUIRY TARGETS MTA COMPLAINTS FROM DISABLED RIDERS BRING FEDERAL INVESTIGATION.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Opening a second civil rights front in Los Angeles, federal officials said Wednesday that they have launched an investigation into the MTA and a company that gives rides to disabled people, following allegations that thousands of complaints have been ignored.

The Federal Transit Administration's civil rights division is investigating a complaint filed by 24 people who claim Access Services drivers are abusive, miss pickups and run chronically late. Some advocates for the disabled claim riders who complain risk retaliation.

The FTA probe comes as the U.S. Justice Department threatens to sue the city of Los Angeles, alleging systematic civil rights abuses by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The complaint filed by the Western Law Center for Disability Rights contends the Metropolitan Transportation Authority knew as early as 1997 about Access Services' poor performance but gave it more money.

In fact, just last week the MTA board was set to renew the company's $159 million, five-year business plan when wheelchair user Joey Schine of Van Nuys appeared and lodged a complaint against the service, which provides 1.6 million rides annually. The board delayed its vote a month, and MTA officials conceded they knew Access Services was the target of thousands of complaints.

``The MTA has largely ignored its para-transit responsibilities and hasn't taken the need seriously enough,'' said Eve Hill, executive director of the Western Law Center.

``Without transportation, they can't have jobs, social lives or all the things we take for granted. When the service doesn't work, it's a major blow to them.''

The company's executive director, Richard DeRock, dismissed the Western Law Center complaint as ``very vague.''

``We don't see the issues they are raising,'' he said. ``We have been 91 percent on time, on average. It's good, if not better than anywhere else in the United States.''

The FTA could withhold funding from Access Services and refer the case to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Glendale resident Fernando Roldan, 28, said he was stranded at a Northridge shopping center for two hours March 3 after the computer system at Access Services failed. ``I've been stranded a couple of times,'' he said.

Bellflower resident Betty Dangerfield, 50, said she joined the complaint after an Access Services driver slammed the door on her leg Dec. 29, 1999.

``He had a real nasty attitude. They should screen the drivers better because some of them are real humdingers,'' she said.

The FTA is investigating 15 additional cases and has examined dozens of other complaints against the company since 1994. The details and outcomes of those cases were not available.

``We have found, for the most part, that transit agencies do not deliberately refuse to comply with the regulations,'' said an FTA spokeswoman, Karen Clarke.

An independent survey of passengers in March found 52 percent rated the service as excellent, 19 percent as good, 13 percent as fair and 16 percent as poor, DeRock said. Still, he said his company supported independent audits to identify problems in service.

The federal government pays 70 percent of Access Services' annual budget of $50.8 million, and the MTA pays the rest. The budget includes $40 million for taxicab and van contractors and $2.4 million in salaries for Access Service's 51 employees. DeRock, the highest-paid employee, makes $109,000 a year.

Riders pay $1.50 to $4 a ride depending on the distance.

Jim McLaughlin, MTA director of transit planning, said the MTA is working to find solutions. ``The worst thing that can happen is if you strand someone,'' he said.

Schine said a van driver threatened to strand him April 24 outside a karaoke bar shortly after midnight and then insulted him.

He said he went to the board meeting because the MTA had ignored complaints he made nearly every week for the past four years. ``Nothing had been done because no one gave a damn,'' he said.

Schine's complaints are among 300 to 400 complaints a month Access Services receives. In August, a record 1,583 people made complaints.

MTA officials defend the number, however, by citing a 1998 consultant's report that showed Access Services had 2.2 complaints per 1,000 riders in 1997, compared with a high of 18 per 1,000 in Miami and a low of 0.7 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Advocates believe more must be done.

Betty Wilson, assistant executive of the Los Angeles Department on Disability, said her office has complained in writing and in person to the board, without receiving a reply.

``The MTA took the information and said they were going to look into it,'' Wilson said.

Norma Jean Vescovo, executive director of the Van Nuys-based Independent Living Center of Southern California, said riders who complain risk retaliation.

``The MTA has lawyers set up to prevent people from doing anything,'' she said. ``If an individual has a complaint, Access Services won't accept it without a name. Then the person gets retaliated against. Either they don't get picked up or have their rides cut off.''

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Photo: Joey Schine, whose complaint moved the MTA board to delay its renewal of a transit company's contract to give rides to disabled residents, sits outside his Van Nuys apartment complex.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer