Blind veteran says he was left stranded by MARTA
ATLANTA - John Little is happy to boast that driving is the only thing he can’t do. Despite being legally blind, the 92-year-old World War II Navy Veteran takes a lot of pride in living own in Hapeville.
He doesn’t like to bother his loved ones for a ride, so he relies on MARTA Mobility to get back and forth to his doctor's office in Tucker. But Little told FOX's 5 Portia Bruner, MARTA left him stranded for four hours at the doctor's officer on Thursday.
“It was very stressful. I’m 92. I’m legally blind. I had already eaten my lunch, so I was hungry and all I had was some Tic Tacs in my pocket,” said Little.
Little said it’s not uncommon for the shuttle service to arrive late. But he began to get concerned after an hour.
“I just kept waiting, not knowing it would turn into an Olympic event,” he said from his home near downtown Hapeville.
Mr. Little doesn’t have a cell phone, so he asked a security guard to call and check on MARTA’s arrival. He was told it would be another 20 minutes. It was much longer.
“Patients were coming in after my appointment was over. Then they would be on their way out and ask why I was still there. I told them I was still waiting. They were supposed to pick me up at 2:30. They didn’t get there until 6:30. That was a long time," Litttle said.
The WW II veteran said he filed a complaint with MARTA Friday morning and hoped to get some answers and a refund of the money left on his MARTA Bridge Card.
Days after our initial report aired on November 18, MARTA officials contacted Fox 5 with the results of their investigation. MARTA Officials determined there was an issue of miscommunication on both ends. A spokeswoman for MARTA tells FOX 5, "Mr. Little called for a shuttle to arrive at 1:30- an hour earlier than he intended. That shuttle left when no one showed up for a ride."
The spokeswoman also says they dispatched a later shuttle to Mr. Little's home in Hapeville instead of his doctor's office in Tucker.
Mr. Little said he’ll find another way to get to the doctor’s office in the future.
“I’m not going to ride MARTA anymore,” he said.
Marta officials say they have apologized to Mr. Little. They say they regret what happened and always work hard to ensure their customers are safely transported in a timely fashion.