Taking charge SEPTA finally moves on paratransit problems.

It should not have taken a federal court order, a Montgomery County criminal probe and public protests for SEPTA to take greater responsibility for providing reliable transit service to people with disabilities.

Unfortunately, it has. Fortunately, SEPTA truly could, at long last, be getting its paratransit house in order.

SEPTA has a raggedy record for how it has managed its transit services for disabled riders, called paratransit. The service requires flexible routes and vehicles outfitted with equipment such as wheelchair lifts.

The agency has given the job to subcontractors. The problem has been the lousy job some have done transporting disabled riders and the lousy job SEPTA has done of overseeing subcontractors.

Despite a $1 billion investment over a decade, service has been routinely late; some pickups simply don't materialize. The vehicle fleet is in poor shape.

In the case of King Paratransit Services Inc., not only has it been the subject of persistent rider complaints, it has been the focus of a Montgomery County criminal investigation into whether King charged SEPTA for thousands of ghost riders.

This month, SEPTA finally put the contractual kibosh on that Upper Merion transit company. Krapf CPS Inc. of Downingtown, which has been providing service in Chester County, will cover Montgomery County as well.

Some improvements may follow that transfer, combined with SEPTA's centralization this year of paratransit reservations, scheduling and dispatching for Philadelphia and suburban counties at its Market Street headquarters.

SEPTA's disabled riders also could benefit from the agency doing what it must: Assistant general manager Bernard Cohen says SEPTA will obey a January federal court order to provide next-day transit service by fall.

Here's another must: Paratransit drivers are supposed to use a computerized system to track on-time rates.

After passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, SEPTA officials complained about the unfunded requirement to accommodate the disabled.

Still, other big-city transit systems adjusted. The New York City Transit Authority, for example, fills nearly all of its paratransit requests, partly by using taxis in crunch situations.

In SEPTA's case, the agency must do better at utilizing and maintaining its fleet. It must step up the ongoing replacement of aging vans and sedans, as well as adding vehicles.

General manager John K. Leary expresses contrition and promises improvements.

But competent performance, be it by subcontractors or SEPTA administrators overseeing them, should mean never needing to say you're sorry.