DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A blind woman from DeKalb County told Channel 2 Action News that the service she relies on to get around is leaving her stranded.
Heather Stubbs told Channel 2’s Matt Belanger that she pays more than $100 a month for MARTA Mobility, the transit’s service for people with disabilities, to pick her up at home because she can't safely get to a bus stop.
But she says that service has become unreliable.
"I'll be standing out there an hour and a half waiting and nobody shows up."
She says she has spent hours on the bus for trips that should only have taken 20 or 30 minutes.
Recently, she says she would have missed a critical doctor's appointment if she didn't find another ride.
“When I called they said, ‘Sorry Ms. Stubbs we don't have a bus and there's not going to be another one around for another three hours,’” she said.
Belanger took her concerns to MARTA.
A spokesperson said in a statement, "MARTA appreciates Ms. Stubbs' patronage and regrets that she has experienced Mobility trips that arrived later than scheduled. We are taking proactive steps to improve paratransit service for all of our customers and ask for their continued support and input to help us make Mobility better."
Stubbs told me MARTA requires her to book her trips in advance and she just wants to be able to rely on the service.
"I want to be able to go to my doctor appointments and get home within a reasonable time,” she said.
Just last month, MARTA entered into a contract with a private company called MV Transportation to take over paratransit service. That transition will happen next year.