Schedule Your Paratransit Ride

To schedule your Paratransit ride, call (205) 521-0180 or 711 for Alabama Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS)

• A request for the next day pick-up must be made by 5 p.m. the day before.

• Transportation requests are accepted up to two weeks in advance.

• Reservations are made on a first call, first schedule basis.

• Paratransit is a shared ride service, and other passengers may be picked up during your trip.

• Always allow extra time for your travel.

  
   

• Your first and last name

• Home or cell phone number

• Date of travel

• Pick-up address

• Destination address

• Appointment time request (you will be provided with a scheduled pick-up time but please be advised this time may change.)

• Door-to-door service request if needed

• Personal Care Attendant (PCA) or service animal request if needed. One PCA can ride free but must be requested when making the reservation.

• Accompanying friend or companion not ADA-certified request. If not ADA-certified, they are required to pay full fare and can only ride if space is available. Available space will be confirmed when booking.

• A Paratransit vehicle will arrive at your location up to 30 minutes prior to and no later than 30 minutes after your scheduled pick-up time. This is defined as the “ready window’. For example, if your scheduled pick up is 9:00 a.m., the vehicle will arrive anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30a.m. for pick-up.

• Passengers are encouraged to be prepared to board the vehicle immediately upon arrival. Operators are instructed to wait no longer than five minutes before proceeding to the next destination. If a passenger is not ready within this time limit, the scheduled trip will be counted as a “no show”.

• On the day of your scheduled service, you can wait inside as long as you can see the vehicle arriving. If you cannot, you must wait outside where you can see the vehicle. Outside of door-to-door request, Paratransit operators will wait for a passenger at the curb of a public street, in front of, or as close as possible to the passenger’s residence, building or other designated pick-up location. 

Service animals are defined by Department of Transportation American with disabilities ACT regulation 49 C.F.R. Section 37.3 as “an animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability,” and permitted to accompany individuals with disabilities in all MAX Transit vehicles and facilities.

See additional information on service animals outside of the transportation system.  

Comfort animals are not allowed in MAX Transit vehicles or facilities. The Department of Transportation (DOT) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulation at 49 C.F.R. Section 37.167(d), states transit entities are only required to allow service animals (definition above) to accompany individuals with disabilities in vehicles and facilities. If an animal’s only function is to provide emotional support or comfort for the rider, that animal would not fall under the regulatory training-based definition of a service animal. Simply providing comfort is something animals do passively, by its nature or through the perception of the owner.  

Use your TTY or call 711 on your phone to access Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). It’s fast, functional, and free!

• TRS permits persons with a hearing or speech disability to use the phone system via a text telephone (TTY) or other device to call persons with or without such disabilities.

• Both voice and TRS users can initiate a call from any phone, anywhere in the United State

• For more information about the various types of TRS see the FCC’s consumer guide

• 711 dialing access does not work for Video Relay Service (VRS), Internet Protocol (IP) relay or IPCTS Relay calls, because such calls are initiated through the Internet.

        Hearing persons initiating a VRS or IP Relay call may do so by calling a provider’s 800 number.

        IPCTS users just call their party directly, and a Communications Assistant (CA) is automatically connected to the call.

• AT&T National Relay Service*All Users: 711

• TTY Alabama User: 1-800-548-2546

• Voice Users: 1-800-855-2881

• PC (ASCII) Users: 1-800-855-2882

• Telebraille: 1 800-855-2883

• AT&T Spanish Relay Service**

• TTY Spanish: 1-800-676-4290

• PC Spanish: 1-800-855-2886

Passengers are required to follow these Rules of Conduct to ensure the safety and comfort of all passengers and the Paratransit Operator.

• No eating, drinking or smoking aboard the bus.
• No riding under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
• No abusive, threatening or obscene language or actions.
• No discharge of bodily fluids or open wounds.
• No deliberate fare evasion.
• No physical abuse of another passenger or operator. *
• No operating or tampering with any equipment while onboard a Paratransit vehicle.
• No radios or sound- generating equipment are to be played onboard the vehicles.
• No radios or sound- generating equipment are to be played onboard the vehicles.
• For safety reasons, please limit unnecessary conversations with operator when the vehicle is in motion.
• Passengers who violate the Rules of Conduct are subject to penalties up to and including suspension and/ or termination of service.

    * Passengers who engage in physical abuse or cause physical injury to another passenger or operator may be subject to          immediate and permanent suspension from services, and possible criminal prosecution.

See FTA policies concerning Paratransit for more information on the following related topics:

• Trip Length Policy
• Missed Trip Policy
• Capacity & Constraints
• Notice of System Upgrade