HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Nineteen-year old Patrick Lanzi loves his job at St. Mary’s Hospital.
To get there, he relies on the GRTC CARE Van, and so does his mother, Shelly Montante.
“In order for me to work, I need Patrick to have his own transportation,” she said.
However, Montante said she has serious concerns with how long her son is on the bus for, and that it is sometimes late.
“I am indeed fed up,” she said.
Montante said it started on Patrick’s first day. She has a tracker on Patrick’s phone and noticed the driver had stopped for nearly an hour.
She said the policy is that drivers shouldn’t stop for more than five minutes when picking someone up.
“By the time we got there it’s almost at the hour mark of him being gone from our home and the driver is out front of the van of the house and he’s smoking a cigarette,” she said.
That’s when Montante contacted CBS 6 Problem Solvers with her concerns.
CBS 6 took this concern to GRTC Spokeswoman Carrie Rose Pace. Rose Pace confirms that MV Transportation is looking into this incident and anytime there is a concern.
Montante also said there have been times where Patrick has been on the bus for over two hours, when he lives 15 minutes from the hospital.
She said she noticed one route going all the way out to the airport then coming back.
“Two hours on a van increases your margin for an accident,” said Montante.
She said this long time frame also has her concerned for others. She said she’s been told passengers can have accidents from being on the bus for too long.
Rose Pace said they are aware of the long rides and are working to try to limit the time.
However, she said that since it is a shared service and not a taxi, ride times can be longer.
“We want to do our best to schedule with the clients that we have to meet their needs, and we’re working with scheduling software updates to make sure we get that programmed right,” said Rose Pace.
She said they are also launching a pilot program next year to help with shorter ride times.
Rose Pace also confirmed someone will contact Montante regarding her concerns.
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