Thornwood’s family said a paratransit bus refused to take their autistic son to a designated destination, leaving him stranded in an unfamiliar location.
The family used paratransit to bring their 20-year-old son to the Carver Center in Port Chester three days a week.
This has been my routine since March, and it’s been running fine until this Wednesday. They say that instead of dropping off Son at Carver’s Center at 400 Westchester Avenue in Port Chester, the driver West dropped off at 400 Westchester Avenue in Harrison.
When my son informed the driver of the mistake, he was told to get off and call another driver.
The mother says her son called paratransit and texted the paratransit landline asking them to provide another bus to take her son to the center. She added that he wasn’t in the right place, but he didn’t know how to get out of the situation.
There was a bus stop very close to where he was dropped off, and he went to the bus stop and quickly got on the next bus that passed by.
The driver of the Beeline bus he took, noticing his distress, called his parents to help arrange a meeting place and took him there.
The family contacted the paratransit company to tell them that the bus had cameras and that they would investigate.
Westchester County issued the following statement: A long-standing policy of the Westchester County Office for people with disabilities is for drivers to call Dispatch for guidance and directions. We are committed to providing safe and reliable transportation for members of our community with disabilities. If an error occurs, take action to prevent it from happening again. ”
The family is now dealing with the aftermath. Their son doesn’t want to take the bus anymore and their parents want to make sure this never happens again.
The family is also trying to reach out to the Beeline bus driver who saved the day and thank him.