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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I hope so!
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings">J</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Jo Elizabeth Pinto<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Please visit my author Website:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.brightsideauthor.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://www.brightsideauthor.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Gail Hamilton via Colorado-Talk<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, January 8, 2025 4:07 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> NFB of Colorado Discussion List <colorado-talk@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Gail Hamilton <gail@soaringintogreatness.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Colorado-Talk] RTD's Conundrum With Access-on-Demand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Is this so well worded email going to the powers that make the decisions?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black">Infinite Blessings,</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black">Gail Hamilton</span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><br>
International Speaker<br>
Soaring Into Greatness<br>
<i>Unstoppable, Unforgettable, Unbelievable</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><a href="mailto:gail@soaringintogreatness.com"><span style="color:blue">gail@soaringintogreatness.com</span></a><br>
(720)-377-7682<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><a href="https://facebook.com/gail.hamilton.9231"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3125in;height:.3125in" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image001.png@01DB61E7.D3E7B900" alt="Facebook"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"> </span><a href="https://linkedin.com/in/gaillhamilton"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3125in;height:.3125in" id="_x0000_i1028" src="cid:image002.png@01DB61E7.D3E7B900" alt="LinkedIn"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"> </span><a href="https://youtube.com/channel/UC2ETmkavYKd75Gz9NKBgPhw"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3125in;height:.3125in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.png@01DB61E7.D3E7B900" alt="YouTube"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"> </span><a href="https://instagram.com/soaring.into.greatness"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3125in;height:.3125in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image004.png@01DB61E7.D3E7B900" alt="Instagram"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><br>
</span><a href="http://soaringintogreatness.com/"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:blue;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="310" height="108" style="width:3.2291in;height:1.125in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image005.jpg@01DB61E7.D3E7B900" alt="Soaring Into Greatness Logo with gold wings on a green background."></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> Colorado-Talk <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org">colorado-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, January 8, 2025 12:53 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <<a href="mailto:colorado-talk@nfbnet.org">colorado-talk@nfbnet.org</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Curtis Chong <<a href="mailto:chong.curtis@gmail.com">chong.curtis@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Colorado-Talk] RTD's Conundrum With Access-on-Demand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">conundrum Hello to my fellow Coloradans:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) started providing Access-on-Demand service to paratransit customers to the tune of $25 per ride, sixty rides per month, and no restrictions as to when and where a customer would be
picked up or dropped off within its large service area, its intentions may have been altruistic, but the end result seems to be a system that is now costing RTD more than $1.2 million every month. RTD is telling us that this cost is "not sustainable."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have to wonder how it is that RTD created this spectacular disaster in the first place. Did its well-paid management staff not know that the traditional Access-a-Ride service was plagued with so many problems that most people chose not
to sign up for the service unless they were desperate for transportation? Did RTD management not understand that they would create much less resentment and public acrimony if they had started by offering a little bit of service and gradually expanded the service
as they could afford to provide it rather than throwing opening the floodgates, offering everybody everything for nothing, then finding themselves in a position where they had to take services away from people who have now become dependent on it? Why is RTD
surprised that Access-on-Demand has been flooded with a lot of new customers who would never have applied to receive Access-a-Ride services to begin with?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Access-on-Demand service as we now know it has been operating for a little more than two years. Before Access-on-Demand, what did the people who now rely on this service do to go to and from work, participate in social events, or travel
to medical appointments? I am fairly confident that while some folks did stay at home, other people found alternative ways to get around--ways, I fully recognize, that cost a lot more than Access-on-Demand does today.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">RTD is now in an untenable position. No matter what it does to keep Access-on-Demand alive, it will incur the wrath of a community of paratransit customers who will feel that they have been forced to make a sacrifice in their personal independence
simply to help a large government bureaucracy to reduce spending. We, the blind community and the community of folks with other disabilities, will experience a reduction in one or more aspects of the Access-on-Demand program. The hope is that RTD will learn
from its mistakes, obtain meaningful data from the community of paratransit riders, and implement cost-saving reductions in Access-on-Demand that hurt the fewest individuals.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Curtis Chong<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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