The Metropolitan Council often missed its own performance targets for on-time pick-ups and drop-offs for Metro Mobility, and paid out bonuses to its transportation providers for fulfilling ride requests even though they failed to earn them, according to a report released Tuesday by the state's watchdog agency.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) said it evaluated Metro Mobility after some lawmakers, advocates for people with disabilities, and older Minnesotans complained about late bus arrivals and overly long rides, among other service problems.

The legislative auditor's review recommends several ways to upgrade Metro Mobility's operations, including more stringent enforcement of contracts with service providers and retooling how complaints from riders are handled. The Met Council, which oversees Metro Mobility, responded that it agrees with the recommendations, which align with current initiatives to improve service.

Metro Mobility is a federally mandated transportation service for people with disabilities and whose territory covers much of the seven-county metro area. The state-mandated area further expands Metro Mobility's reach — from Chaska to Stillwater, Lakeville to Lino Lakes.

While the Met Council oversees the service, Illinois-based Transdev and Transit Team of Minneapolis provide the actual rides. Both companies could not be reached for comment regarding the report's findings.

The review found that the council has lower standards for service in state-mandated areas, where ride requests are not guaranteed when someone requests them, and pick-ups may be scheduled more than an hour before or after the requested pick-up time.

In fiscal 2023, nearly 2 million rides were scheduled and booked on Metro Mobility. While only 5,200 requests were denied (about 14 rides a day) all but two of the denials occurred in the state-mandated territory.

The Met Council and its service contractors say they faced severe workforce shortages during the pandemic, a challenge that lingers today, as well as manufacturing delays and backlogs when buying new vehicles. Because of the delays, "much of the Metro Mobility fleet has exceeded its useful operating life," the report states.

The report also found the council paid a total of $25,000 in bonuses in fiscal 2023 to its service providers for fulfilling ride requests, even though they did not earn them. Further, the contract with Metro Mobility providers calls for a $50 penalty every time they fail to forward a complaint to the council, an arrangement the OLA said disincentivizes providers from doing so.

In a response to the OLA report, Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle noted that new service contracts will be up this year and the council "will consider revisions to address various recommendations on contractors' role in the complaints process."

About half of the 64-page audit takes issue with the way complaints from passengers are handled by Met Council staff, who often don't hear about them because they're fielded by the service providers. This "undermines the integrity of the complaints process," the report states.

In fiscal 2023, the Met Council recorded nearly 2,600 complaints about Metro Mobility service, two-thirds of which were related to the driver of the vehicle, including criticism that rides were late or never showed up.

Often, Metro Mobility passengers were unclear on how to file a complaint — of 88 complainants who were surveyed by OLA staff, 40% said the process was confusing.

Zelle vowed in his response that "we will take steps to ensure concerns are fully documented and contractors forward any matter comprising a complaint."