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Alex Cabrero ReportingAs beautiful as the weather is today, it's kind of easy to forget how bad it was yesterday, except for one local woman, who says when she needed help the most, she couldn't get it.
Jennifer Dobb just knew Thursday morning was going to be tough.
Jennifer Dobb: "The wheels don't turn like they should because it's building up with all the snow."
A walker helps get her around, but on snowy days she also needs UTA's paratransit bus to get her from her house to her regular bus-stop.
Jennifer Dobb: "I can't get to the bus stop, I can't get to work."
So, following UTA's 24-hour notice rule, she called Wednesday for a bus Thursday. But UTA told her it wasn't supposed to snow.
Phone Call: "No, it's not supposed to snow. The snow is supposed to be above 7000 feet." "Okay." "Would you like me to schedule you the bus stop?" "No."
When Jennifer saw snow the next morning, she called back, but UTA told her reservations had to be made the day before.
Jennifer Dobb: "I did explain to them I tried to call yesterday and they said it wouldn't be snowing. That's when they put me through to customer service."
Cherryl Beveridge: "I wish there are things that could be done differently."
Cherryl Beveridge manages UTA's paratransit division. She understands Dobb's situation and feels bad, but says guidelines are guidelines. And with 4,300 paratransit riders, making an exception for one wouldn't be fair.
Cherryl Beveridge, UTA Paratransit Manager: "It would be difficult for us to meet that demand because we don't have vehicles sitting around."
Even if they were wrong about snow the day before, UTA offered to give Dobb a ride to her bus stop, but she said no. Dobb just hopes in the future, exceptions could be made.
Jennifer Dobb: "I hope they figure something out."
Dobb made it to work anyway, but says hopefully, it won't be as difficult next time it snows.
