Amanda Shevitski said she relies on the DART program for transportation.

DART is a PSTA program that services disabled riders. DART has a contract with Yellow Cab to service those calls.

Shevitski and some other riders said the cabs are not reliable.

“The issue is that sometimes, they’re really, really late and then sometimes they don’t come at all,” said Shevitski.

The 28-year-old blind woman from Pinellas Park said she recently got severely sunburned while waiting for a cab that was hours late.

Debbie Malone from Tarpon Springs is legally blind and said she also waits a long time for cabs. She recently had a ride scheduled for 6:45 a.m. that didn’t show up until about 9:30.

“I didn’t even get there until 10:30, so now an hour and a half late for a job interview which doesn’t look good right off the bat,” said Malone.

Malone said the cab ride home was also late, leaving her and guide dog, Rosie waiting in the rain.

Chester Dunbar from Clearwater relies on oxygen and can’t drive. He relies on cabs to get to doctor’s appointments and school.

Dunbar said he recently had a ride set for 2:15 pm.

“Finally, they come at 4:30, my oxygen’s out, you know I need my medication that I take on a daily basis for my epilepsy and my other health conditions,” said Dunbar.

Shevitski, Malone and Dunbar said they want to be able to rely on the rides.

DART Disabilities Manager, Ross Silvers said people should not be waiting hours for rides.

"I’m sorry, because that is not the standard of service that we expect at PSTA,” said Silvers. “We have been working very diligently with Yellow Cab because that’s where the problems have been."

Silvers said their records show a 95% on-time performance rate. A ride is considered on time, if it arrives within thirty minutes of the scheduled pick-up time. Silvers said they’re working with Yellow Cab to improve rides that show up extremely late.

"They’ve been hiring more drivers, they have a dispatch assistant they’re hiring specifically for PSTA," said Silvers. "They’ve hired more call takers, so people aren’t waiting on hold."

Silvers said they’ll continue monitoring to make sure changes continue.

"Their time to make improvements is running to a close, so we will not tolerate a continuation of trips that are multiple hours late, that is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it any longer," said Silvers.

Riders said they’re anxious to see improvements.

"It affects my life greatly because DART is believe it or not, the only source of transportation I have," said Shevitski.

“Being forced to being home all the time and being a shut-in, if you don’t have reliable transportation,” said Malone.

Silvers said if standards are not met, DART will find a different provider.

Yellow Cab did not respond to any messages Bay News 9 left for comment.