A big I-Team investigation found transportation companies putting riders' safety at risk. Bad brakes, bald tires, and broken safety features on "human service vehicles" -- basically anything with an aisle that isn't a school bus or a city bus. For the elderly and people with disabilities, they're a lifeline, and this story may have all of them thinking twice before getting on board.

"If you have a family member that rides on them, yes, you should be concerned," warned Wisconsin State Patrol Inspector Marvin LeSueur.

The I-Team pored through hundreds of recent HSV inspection reports. We discovered one out of every four HSV's Southeastern Wisconsin fails its annual state safety inspection. Advocates for the elderly and disabled aren't surprised.

"There are many horror stories out there over the course of many years," said Rick Drollinger, Transportation Manager for the Milwaukee Center for Independence. "I've seen many vehicles, unfortunately, that should not be on the road."

Community Care Incorporated, on Milwaukee's south side, runs 36 HSV's all over the city. This year alone, state inspectors pulled at least 10 of them off the road for all kinds of safety violations. On van three, the lift-interlock --that's the brake that keeps the it from moving while someone in a wheelchair is on the lift-- wasn't working. Another vehicle had bald tires and broken springs. Inspectors side-lined others for bad brakes, uncharged fire extinguishers, loose tie-rods, holes in the exhaust, and "gear shift will not shift out of park unless vehicle is turned off."

"On an annual inspection, there should not be the violations that I've seen on them," said Inspector LeSueur.

We tracked down Community Care's Chief Operations Officer, Paul Soczynski, to find out what gives.

"We have our own internal inspections," explained Soczynski. "This is a double-check of those internal inspections, so was I personally aware of this? Not necessarily."

Whether he knew about it or not, you can see why state inspectors do those double-checks.

"I can tell you only what I know about these vans and whether they've expressed a concern to us, which I have not heard." Soczynski continued.

We explained to Soczynski that poor safety inspection reports might be the state's way of expressing concern.

"I understand that," admitted Soczynski. "But I'm saying, overall, they are not telling us that our van fleet is of concern to them."

However, when nearly 30% of Community Care's fleet gets yanked off the road in the same year, you'd think they'd get the message loud and clear.

Our investigation also found First Transit, a big national company with a big lot on the south side of Milwaukee, had nearly two dozen busses pulled off the road during a round of inspections that expired in 2009.

We caught up with bus 7056 loading elderly and disabled passengers from an adult care program on Milwaukee's northwest side. A recent inspection found problems with the lift-interlock, and the emergency door's warning buzzer. Other buses had bad door seals and broken springs. The lifts on some busses didn't work at all -- one even had missing screws. Inspectors found emergency windows with broken handles, including one that came off completely.

When we showed up at First Transit's south side lot looking for an explanation, the reception wasn't warm.

Employee: "You'll have to contact our Cincinnati office."

Reporter: "The Cincinnati office?"

Employee: "Yes."

Reporter: "Does the Cincinnati office know about all these failed safety inspections?"

Employee: "Yes, they do. They have all the information for the project."

"For the project? What project? Is there a project to fix all the vehicles?"

Employee: "This is a project, the location. You'll need to leave."

Eventually, the I-Team got a call from First Transit's Cincinnati-based spokeswoman Glenda LaMont who said, "We have a very robust preventative maintenance program to make sure that those inspections are done on a regular basis, not because of state inspections, but because of our own focus and priority on safety."

First Transit did a lot better on another round of inspections a few months ago.  Still, we asked Inspector LeSueur whether the public can trust a company that had nearly two dozen vehicles pulled out of service in just one round of inspections?"

"Basically, that's what my job is for, to catch those vehicles when they're out on the road." said LeSueur.

The worst part is, many of the people with disabilities who ride HSV's aren't vocal and can't complain or tell anyone about problems they may see. If you or a loved one relies on HSV's, you can ask the company to show you their internal and their state inspection records. If they won't give them up, that should be a big red flag.