Juneau aging commission returns to paratransit complaints at Aug. 19 meeting

Seniors and riders with disabilities who depend on Capital AKcess will hear their transportation complaints taken up again when the Juneau Commission on Aging meets Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 3 p.m. The commission moved the meeting from Aug. 18 because of the state primary election. It is set for the Downtown Library Large Meeting Room at 292 Marine Way and also by Zoom. ADA accommodations are available on request from the Clerk's Office at (907) 586-5278 at least 36 hours ahead.

Chair Deborah Craig carried those complaints to the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly on July 27. In testimony included in the August packet, Craig said the provider CBJ selected last year "has struggled to provide services as required in the contract for nine months." She said she personally called Capital AKcess 25 times to arrange travel for Pioneer Home residents attending the Symphony, and that the contractor lacked the multiple phone lines and voicemail the contract requires.

Craig also told the Assembly that her 96 year old neighbor was left at Foodland when the pickup was booked for the wrong day, and that SEARHC started its own shuttle after Capital AKcess repeatedly failed to get clients to medical appointments. The Assembly renewed the contract in June. Craig said winter weather heightens the risk for vulnerable adults who rely on the service for food, medicine and medical appointments. She added that commission members had met with Capital Transit staff multiple times and found them responsive, though the problems continued.

Assembly member Alicia Hughes Skandijs asked whether the commission had collected rider accounts. Craig said the commission advises rather than surveys, and suggested CBJ phone current users directly.

Paratransit is not the only item on the agenda. AARP National is scheduled to give a presentation on the Vital Voices Survey, comparing Juneau and statewide data on housing, transportation, caregiving, fraud and whether people plan to stay in Juneau and Alaska or move. AARP Senior Research Manager Terri Guengerich will speak to the commission about the survey, which is also being shared with the AARP Community Action Team, interested Assembly members and the public. The Housing Subcommittee is also slated to report on the November conference, and Assembly liaison Paul Kelly's monthly newsletter is on the agenda.