No Show Policy

Customer Responsibilities

Customers are responsible for canceling any trips they no longer want or need. Customers must call (209) 527-4900 at least one hour prior to the start of the pick-up window to cancel a trip. It is solely the customer’s responsibility to notify The S of all cancellations at least one hour before the scheduled pick-up window. 

General Requirements

Customers using demand response services are required to reserve specific pickup and drop-off times between one and seven (1-7) days in advance of their travel date by calling The S reservations at (209) 527-4900. This allows The S schedulers to provide trips to as many customers as possible.

Customers are provided with reminder calls of their trips the night before their date of travel and when the bus is nearing arrival on the travel day.

Canceling a Scheduled Trip

The S understands customers sometimes have schedule changes or even forget a ride. However, these late changes place a strain on The S because a vehicle and driver may make a non-productive trip for a customer who does not take the ride. This can make The S late to pick up and drop off other customers. The S recognizes this can occur with any customer. Customers that show a pattern of late cancels or no shows may harm the system’s  function. They can be suspended from taking trips because of their no shows.

  • No-Show Doorhanger A No Show/Late Cancellation will not be assessed when:
  • Staff made an error in the ride reservation
  • The vehicle did not arrive at the location
  • The vehicle arrived outside the pickup window or did not wait per policy
  • The ride could not be taken due to an emergency beyond the customer’s control

Suspension of Services Due to Excessive Missed Trips

The S Customer Service reviews and verifies each No Show and Late Cancellation to ensure accuracy before entering them into customer records. At the end of each month, all customers with validated missed trips will receive written notification that they have violated this policy and that they may be subject to a suspension of services. Suspensions are determined based on the customer’s excessive missed trips during the prior 12-month period.

The S also considers how many rides a customer has completed in that month to ensure that frequent customers are not unfairly penalized for occasional failures to complete a trip:

Number of Trips
Number of No Show/Late Cancellations
0-303 No Shows/Late Cancellations
31+10% or more of total trips

At the end of each month, The S will send out a letter of suspension to any customer meeting the suspension thresholds. Suspensions begin at 7 days in length and increase depending upon how many times a customer has been previously suspended within the previous 12 months.

Number of Suspensions within 12 months
Number of Days of Suspension
1st time7 days
2nd time14 days
3rd time21 days
4th time and subsequent30 days

Suspensions will begin the following month unless the customer files an appeal. 

Subscription Cancellation

If a subscription customer receives two (2) service suspensions within a rolling 12-month period, the subscription will be canceled.Image of DAR bus going through the Ceres sign.

Appeal Rights

Customers have a right to appeal suspension actions. The process for appeal is the same as used for fixed route service suspensions. Information on your rights to appeal a suspension can be found here: https://www.stanrta.org/513/Appeals-Process