BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge-area woman reached out to UWK after experiencing an incident with the CATS on Demand system, in which a driver allegedly refused to assist her.
Cassandra Lang, who uses a wheelchair, relies on CATS for transportation to doctor’s appointments and other medical visits. Lang has used CATS for five years, she told UWK, but after the incident in late December, she decided to switch transportation providers.
On the morning of Dec. 29, 2024, Lang says the ramp at her home was wet and slippery from the recent rain. As she attempted to navigate down the ramp in her wheelchair to reach her CATS ride for a dialysis appointment, she struggled to control her chair, fearing it would roll too fast or tip over due to the slick conditions.
“It felt like my wheels were twisting,” she explained about the situation. “They didn’t meet the concrete for me to roll myself down like I usually do.”
Lang said that she normally uses the ramp without any assistance, but she does have a caregiver who will help her up the ramp when she returns from her dialysis.
She claims the driver refused to assist her in getting to the van. In the video Lang provided to UWK, the driver approaches Lang after she struggles to hold onto the rail to stop her chair from going out of control. The two then are seen exchanging a few words.
When the driver stated she could not assist, Lang asked if she could at least get her cell phone from her bag, which was on the wheelchair.
However, after briefly searching the bag, Lang told UWK that the driver said she couldn’t get the phone because she didn’t have gloves. She then walked away and returned to the van.
Lang explained that she only needed help at the bottom of the ramp, not the entire way. She also claimed that her phone was at the top of the bag and easily accessible.
This was not the first time Lang had this particular driver, and she said she had never encountered an issue before. Many drivers, she said, assist her down the ramp or at least stand nearby in case she needs help.
“She’s even helped me up and down my ramp before,” Lang claimed. “I don’t know what was going on with her that day, but it just really hurt me. It scared the hell out of me, and I was afraid because I deal with anxiety.”
The anxiety stems from an injury she sustained a few years ago when she broke her leg during physical therapy. Since then, she’s been afraid of falling, and this recent incident only heightened her fears.
When the driver wouldn’t assist her with the ramp and walked off, Lang began screaming out for help while clinging to the rail. As she called for help, the driver began retracting the van lift, at which point two women rushed over to assist Lang in getting to the vehicle.
Only then did the driver return to load her onto the lift.
Lang believes this kind of incident should have never happened.
“I’m trying to get the word out, because I think that that should never happen to anyone. I wouldn’t want that to happen to my worst enemy,” Lang said.
She called CATS the same day and spoke with the operations manager, telling him that she had video evidence. While he gave her his email address and she sent the file, Lang said she never received a response. She also attempted to contact the CATS director but says that she never heard back.
She was given a $10 pass from the booking agency, she said.
UWK reached out to CATS about the incident. The company stated that it is currently investigating the matter and noted that the bus service Lang used is operated by a third-party contractor under a contract with CATS.
A CATS spokesperson provided the following statement:
We want to emphasize that the safety, accessibility, and dignity of all our passengers is our highest priority. The bus service in question is operated by a third-party company under contract with CATS. We take this matter very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident. While our investigation is ongoing, we want to assure the public that we have strict policies and training requirements in place for all drivers, including those employed by our contractors. We will work closely with the third-party company to implement any required improvements.
We remain dedicated to providing safe, accessible, and respectful transportation services for all members of our community.
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