When you can't see well enough to drive, getting around is a real problem. Aside from walking to nearby places, visually impaired people depend largely on public and/or paratransportation to carry on daily living. Busses, train and lite Rail are the familiar forms of public transportation while paratransit is the ADA-mandated Title VI transportation service for those who cannot use public transport due to a disability.
In Santa Clara County, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) provides bus and lite rail service as does CalTrain, through the San Francisco to San Jose train line. Outreach and Escort are contracted through VTA, providing paratransit services.These three companies are obligated through features of the ADA to accommodate disabled people, and the quality of service varies greatly.
As an SVCB member, I want to make sure our concerns and views are known to these organizations while we consume their services. Our lives are directly affected by the quality of their services.
Since joining SVCB I have attended VTA and CTA (Committee on Transportation Access) meetings. I intend to publish monthly any SVCB issues which are registered by our members and any news the VTA organization publishes regarding their disability transportation policies. I also plan to keep you updated with other transportation news that I come across while attending these meetings.
This committee's members include one Board member, persons with disabilities, representatives of human service agencies within the county, and VTA's paratransit broker. The CTA advises the Board on bus and rail accessibility issues, paratransit service, public facilities and programs, and VTA's efforts to fully comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Beginning December, the SVCB will become more active in the posting of all VTA transit issues to be presented to the VTA council and Board of Directors. I will act as SVCB's link to the VTA. The process will follow these steps:
1. Any SVCB member will register their issues directly to Cam Acker by sending a statement of their issue directly to her at cmacker@usa.net.Statement of issues should include:
2. Each of the issues will be then posted on our SVCB Home Page, on a monthly basis, prior to our monthly meetings so the issues can then be discussed during our monthly meetings as needed.
3. Cam will relay each issue to the VTA, directly.
4. As each issued is resolved by the VTA, those resolutions will be recorded on the SVCB home page. Expect the first issues to be posted by the second week of December 2011. Any questions regarding this process can be sent directly to Cam Acker at cmacker@usa.net.