Many of you have recently experienced issues with dropped calls, busy signals, or excessive wait times when calling to book a ride. We’re dedicated to addressing these challenges and creating a better experience for our customers.
Over the last year, Via has grown rapidly, and we are doing our best to keep up with the increased demand for our services and the accompanying challenges resulting from this surge in demand. For example, we have increased the number of phone lines available to help mitigate dropped calls during peak hours, and we have hired more reservationists to help us serve you more efficiently. These are the first steps we’ve taken to address these challenges; we’re working hard to continue to grow our capacity to keep up with demand.
In the meantime, we have put together a few helpful tips to help you navigate our system and get the trip you need.
- Call after 10:00 am. We are experiencing the highest call volumes in the morning. Unless you need to cancel a same-day trip, wait until after 10:00 am to call to schedule a ride.
- Schedule a ride for off-peak hours. At this time, ride requests between 11:00 am – 2:00 pm are in high demand. When possible, schedule a trip outside of these peak hours.
- Be flexible with your travel time. Being flexible with your time to travel, when possible, may increase your chances of getting a trip.
- Schedule your trip as soon as possible. You can book a trip up to 7 days in advance. As soon as you know you need a trip, schedule it. The more notice you give us, the more likely it is that we can accommodate your trip.
- Opt for the waitlist if a ride isn’t available. We update our schedule consistently throughout each day. As people cancel trips, we can fulfill trips on the waitlist.
- Don’t rely on same-day trips. We operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Same-day rides are available but are very limited due to our high demand.
- When on hold for the call center, please be patient. If you hang up before we answer your call, you will lose your place in the queue.
- Request a trip through the online portal. If you have access to a computer, consider requesting your trip online. The online system lets you request a trip up to 11 days in advance. But remember, this is only a request. Our staff will call to confirm your trip if we can accommodate it.
- Don’t forget about our other transportation options! If you couldn’t book your trip through Via’s Paratransit service, our Mobility Specialist can walk you through different options that may meet your transportation needs.
We will continue to monitor and take proactive measures to address these issues. We’re grateful that you choose Via to get you where you need to go, and we’re looking forward to continuing to improve to serve you better.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Mobility Specialists at 303-444-3043.