County to crack down on no-show taxi users

Users of the Ozaukee County Shared Ride Taxi service who fail to show up or cancel their ride in time will now be charged for the service, county supervisors decided last month.

Under the new policy approved by the county Public Works Committee, riders who fail to cancel their ride reservation an hour before the taxi is due to pick them up, or is not ready within five minutes of the taxi’s arrival, will be assessed the full price of the ride for which they made a reservation.

If after five minutes and the taxi leaves, the driver is not allowed to return to pick up the rider. The rider must reschedule, according to the policy.

After three “no-shows” within a 60-day period, the rider’s future scheduled rides will be canceled and the rider will be required to reschedule each ride individually.

Further violations could result in the rider being ineligible to use the service altogether.

Making the change in policy possible is new software enabling a switch from a punch-card system to an electronic swipe card.

“It makes it really easy to institute the new policy,” county Transit Supt. Kara Ottum said.

Public Works Director Jon Edgren said in a memo to the committee the change is necessary “to immediately address the habitual abuses of those who do not find it necessary to call in to cancel their rides.

“The new software makes tracking no-shows easy and charges them immediately,” he said. “By tying a financial incentive to the no shows, we believe there will be a drastic improvement in the cancellation rate, which should improve the system’s efficiency.”

Committee Chairman Marty Wolf called the new software “a real game changer.”

“We’re able to rebook cancellations almost immediately. It greatly improves our efficiency,” he said.

Ottum said the day prior to the committee meeting there were 26 people who did not show up after making reservations and the day before that there were 39 no-shows.

The Shared Ride Taxi draws around 7,500 riders per month, many of them people with disabilities or the elderly who need transportation to go shopping or for medical appointments.

The service also can transport riders to Washington County. About 200 riders per month take advantage of the cross-county service.

The service does not operate on fixed routes. Passengers must call and make an appointment to be picked up and taken to their destination.

The taxi will arrive at the appointed time within a 30-minutes window — 15 minutes before the appointment to 15 minutes after.

Under the new policy, if the taxi does not arrive within that window, the rider will not be charged as a no-show.

Riders will be able to appeal a no-show charge by contacting her, Ottum said.