Key Takeaway: SF Access van service requires reservations at least one day in advance to ensure efficiency and manage demand. The SF Paratransit Taxi program offers greater flexibility, and the FTA encourages exploring flexible funding for innovative solutions to support same-day and chained paratransit trips.
To take a paratransit trip on SF Access van service, customers must know their plans and make a reservation at least one day before their trip. This is consistent with the minimum federal requirements. We cannot deny any trip requests, so this policy also helps us understand demand and make sure our schedules are efficient. However, when a rider's plans unavoidably change at the last minute, it is not a convenient process for the rider or for our scheduling team and operators.
Last-minute changes that riders often need to make, but are difficult for SF Paratransit to accommodate on the same day of the reservation, include canceling a ride, changing the pick-up or drop-off location, or needing to make an intermediate stop between the original pick-up and drop-off locations. Trips with intermediate stops — for example, going to the pharmacy or grocery store between work and home — are also called "chained trips."
Riders are allowed some late cancellations and no-shows without penalty but SF Paratransit policy strongly discourages it. Last-minute cancellations and no-shows are costly to the agency and can also prevent other customers from getting a ride at their preferred pick up time.
We understand spontaneity is still important for paratransit riders, which is one of the reasons we offer the SF Paratransit Taxi program. It provides much greater flexibility for riders who opt-in to the program, including the ability to make same-day reservations and make intermediate stops. However, not all SF Access customers can or like to use taxis over van service.
In September 2023, the United States Federal Transit Administration (FTA) wrote a letter to the transit industry underscoring the importance of meeting same-day and chained trip needs. The letter notes that there is not specific funding for these types of services, but highlighted flexible federal funding that could be used to support innovative pilots and solutions.