The previous six installments of this series identified and explored, in considerable detail, the elements needed to make a public transportation system work. Not a hodgepodge of disjointed and sometimes overlapping or duplicative services. But a collection of system elements which fit together to form a coherent system. The goal of this series was not historical, although various installments note that every one of these elements was given serious consideration, often supported by a considerable number of articles and, often, substantial studies, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In some cases, these elements were actually implemented, often as “demonstration
Two defendants are constantly sued, mostly for wheelchair tipovers. But most plaintiffs’ attorneys leave vast sums of money on the table: Motivcare (formerly LogistiCare) and MTM – two non-emergency medical brokers operate in all or part of 45 states and the District of Columbia. These companies make most of their money simply by stealing what they don’t waste (through incompetence and reckless disregard). I estimate that these two defendants, together, are stealing between $300B and half a trilliion dollars a year from our healthcare system. Before regulations (more than 20 years ago) legitimized the hiring of brokers, most transportation companies
As installments #1 through 3 of this series illustrated, contractors are often blamed for incidents where all or most of the negligence was committed by the parties which hired them. Where government subsidies support all or most transportation costs — like those for schoolbus, transit, paratransit, non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) or other non-emergency services — these funds can only flow to (or through) a public agency — usually referred to as the “lead agency.” That agency has three choices for providing the service: It can provide the service itself. It can engage a private contractor (or multiple contractors) to provide
