Customers left with no ride as METROLift contractor is hurting for drivers

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A woman who depends on METROLift for rides to see her doctor is saying she ended up in a big bind when her ride never showed.

“Somebody dropped the ball,” said Maxine Singler.

Singler said she feels frustrated after she said METROLift never showed up Monday to take her to her doctor’s appointment.

“We kept on calling,” She said. “We find out they said they didn’t have (any) drivers.”

Singler said it would have been nice to get a call and get notified ahead of time since she booked her ride on Friday.

“You could have (called me) Saturday. They could have done it Sunday,” she said.

Instead, Singler waited, she never got a call and the driver didn’t show. Because of that, she missed her doctor’s appointment. But Singler was not the only one this happened to.

“Well, they told me they are trying to do all they can,” Singler said.

When reached out about the incident, Metro sent the following statement:

“METRO’s contractor, MV Transportation, which operates the METROLift service, is experiencing some manpower issues similar to the staff shortages seen across the transportation industry. As a result, on Monday, June 7, there weren’t enough drivers to handle all of the scheduled METROLift trips. We deeply regret this inconvenience to our customers and immediately began working with MV Transportation to correct the problem. This includes an aggressive hiring initiative with a $1,000 incentive. Again, we apologize to our customers for this failure and know that we are working hard to ensure there is not a repeat of these service challenges.”

When asked about how many drivers MV has and whether the company was hiring, they responded with the following:

“MV currently has over 137 drivers operating on the METROLift Minivan Service. We are looking to hire 75 drivers within the next 45 days. We are offering a $1,000 signing bonus, and we’ll be hiring even more in the future. Interested applicants should go to the MV Recruiting and HR Center located at the Marriott Hotel South Houston Hobby Airport – Port Lavaca Room, 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, TX 77017. MV can be reached at 281-253-6052 or 281-253-6505 or visit MV Transportation located at 7710 Romea Street.”

Singler said she was lucky enough to secure another doctor’s appointment. But she just hopes she can count on METROLift to be there this time.