Council approves $513,055 release for Alexandria DOT paratransit after staff outlines modernization and savings plan

Alexandria City Council on Oct. 28 approved a request to release $513,055 from contingent reserves to fund the city's DOT paratransit service for fiscal year 2026, following a staff presentation on operational improvements and cost-saving proposals.

Hillary Orr, deputy director for transit, and Owen Albrecht, paratransit program manager, told the council the contracted paratransit service provides door-to-door transit for residents with disabilities who cannot use fixed-route buses. Staff said the program operates at about $56 per trip today, remains lower than WMATA MetroAccess per-trip costs, and returns approximately 25 cents on the dollar in operating assistance to the city via typical transit funding streams.

Owen Albrecht said recent investments have improved reliability and customer service: a new scheduling and dispatch software launched in May, on-time performance has met the program's 95% target in recent months and ridership has grown by roughly 3,000 annual trips year-over-year. Staff described a multi-step approach to reduce costs and increase flexibility:

- City-owned vehicles: procure and provide paratransit vans (three Ford Transit EVs in the initial procurement) to remove fleet costs from the contractor and allow capital grant leverage; staff called this a pilot for electric vehicle procurement.

- Fare changes and a new outer zone: adjust zone fares to match inflation (zones 2 and 3 updated to $5 and $7, respectively), add a proposed Zone 4 with a $10 fare for distant trips, and consider a peak-time surcharge ($2 during 7—00—2:00 a.m. and 2—00—4:00 p.m.) to shift nonessential trips away from peak demand.

- Call-center AI and IVR improvements: add an AI agent on top of the interactive voice response system to answer routine reservation questions, provide multilingual support for commonly requested languages and shorten live-agent wait times while preserving access to live assistance.

- Transportation voucher and travel-training programs: expand voucher-like arrangements (modeled on Fairfax County TOPS) and travel training to help riders shift to accessible fixed-route options when feasible; staff said Fairfax's voucher program achieves a per-trip cost near $16 and that a similar shift would materially reduce Alexandria's per-trip expense.

Staff projected modest FY 2026 savings from initial fare changes and vehicle leasing in the $45,000'$50,000 range and larger savings beginning in FY 2027 as additional measures take effect. Albrecht noted the program had applied for grants to support travel training and emphasized that coordination with neighboring jurisdictions (Arlington) on backend integration could further reduce vehicle miles and costs.

Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, who moved the motion to release contingency funds, said the improvements were already under way when she requested the contingency in the budget and expressed interest in follow-up information, particularly user feedback on the AI call-center agent and multilingual access. Councilmembers asked for additional data if the program expands: post-implementation reporting on call wait times and lengths, language needs, travel-training uptake, measures of users served versus eligible residents, and standardized driver and vendor training requirements in the next RFP. Councilmember May Green specifically asked staff to address contractor uniform standards for safety.

On a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley (second: not specified in transcript), the council approved the $513,055 release by roll-call vote; the clerk recorded ayes from the council.

Staff said they will return with implementation details, thresholds for expansion, and requested metrics to support evaluation of the proposed changes.