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<DIV>I had an interesting conversation with a politician in my home town.
His job is in my town and not at the state level. I was telling him about
the situation with using the 2 transit systems and he told me to call my town
hall. He said to find out which politician covers my part of the town and
talk to that person. He told me that in Stratford there are 2 people that
are kinda like delegates that will work with individuals with issues with the
transit system. He also said the politician in my area should help me
too. The more people standing with you will help convince the bus service
to do things to help their paying customers.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wish I knew this when I started my job and felt I didn't have a chance of
working this out. It took a lot of calling and talking with both transit
services to get them both to give a little to accomplish getting there.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bridgeport only goes to K Mart in Milford and My Ride supposely only
goes to the Shopping Mall on the post road. Well they finally agreed to
both go to Milford Hospital and that is where I make the connection.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Joyce
Kane<BR><A href="http://www.krafterskorner.org/">www.KraftersKorner.org</A><BR>Blindhands@AOL.com
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 6/19/2011 10:37:18 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>To
Trudy, et. al,<BR><BR> If you want to make a change in your local
public transportation system, I seriously encourage you to get people together
in your area who use the system (or will use it if it improves). If you
can come up with simple solutions to the issues at hand, especially ones that
incur zero or minor costs, you may find that your local systems are very
receptive to the ideas. It's important for them to hear from people who
will actually be their customers. For example, if Dr. Marc Maurer,
President of the NFB, were to call a public transit system in a Connecticut
town, the first thing that they're going to wonder is if he's ever going to
use it. If they have no proof that doing what he says is going to
benefit them, they may not do it. If they have ten people who live
locally and want to use their transit system standing in front of them with a
complaint, they might really think about making the change. I'd be more
than happy to help brainstorm specific solutions with you, but I live up in
the northeast corner and can't claim to be a potential
customer.<BR><BR>Advocacy is one of the things that the NFB is all
about!<BR><BR>Good luck!<BR><BR>Justin<BR><BR>Justin M.
Salisbury<BR>Undergraduate Student<BR>The University Honors Program<BR>East
Carolina University<BR>salisburyj08@students.ecu.edu<BR><BR>“Never doubt that
a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed,
it’s the only thing that ever has.” —MARGARET
MEAD<BR><BR><BR>________________________________________<BR>From:
ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org [ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org] on behalf of Trudy
Swenson [trudyswenson@charter.net]<BR>Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 8:45
AM<BR>To: 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List'<BR>Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb]
TRANSPORTATION<BR><BR>I’ve been following this thread closely. Over the years,
my family has experienced many difficulties and frustrations with the dismal
state of public transportation in our area. I empathize with all of you
regarding lousy and inadequate scheduling, delayed and canceled rides, and the
often shoddy conditions found in the transit system. I have a question
for all participants on this listserv: why is there so much focus and
enthusiasm on the effort to put blind people behind the wheel of a car and
absolutely none on improving public transportation?<BR><BR>Driving a car
despite blindness seems a very attractive goal. We all want the freedom and
independence to go where we want to go when we want to go there. Nevertheless
it will be years before a method is perfected. Huge dollar amounts will be
expended for research and fabrication and manufacturing. This doesn’t
take into account a massive educational campaign to gain acceptance in the
public arena. If and when a blind person is put behind the wheel of a
fast moving car in highway traffic that vehicle will surely be beyond the
financial reach of most people I know, blind or sighted.<BR><BR>On the other
hand public transportation, however lousy it is, exists to some degree almost
everywhere. There are many simple things that could be done to make it better.
As a group that depends on this mode of getting around, we have a collective
voice. Energy devoted to this issue might very well effectively improve
our lives now.<BR><BR>Thank you for letting me air my opinion. I look forward
to your comments.<BR><BR>Trudy<BR><BR>From: ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org
[mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Richard McGaffin<BR>Sent:
Saturday, June 18, 2011 7:08 AM<BR>To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing
List<BR>Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] TRANSPORTATION<BR><BR>Good morning
folks:<BR><BR>about the transit thing I refuse to use it, I will walk take a
city bus, or bug my family for rides if I have too, the para transit sucks to
put it bluntly they're never on time and when I did use it. It made me late
for work.<BR><BR><BR>--- On Fri, 6/17/11, Suzanne Westhaver
<swesthaver@comcast.net<mailto:swesthaver@comcast.net>>
wrote:<BR><BR>From: Suzanne Westhaver
<swesthaver@comcast.net<mailto:swesthaver@comcast.net>><BR>Subject:
Re: [Ct-nfb] TRANSPORTATION<BR>To: "NFB of Connecticut Mailing List"
<ct-nfb@nfbnet.org<mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org>><BR>Date: Friday,
June 17, 2011, 10:41 PM<BR> Hi, Joyce. I think working the two
transits to coordinate is trickier too. I have used the Waterbury/New
Haven connection to connect in New Haven on rare occasions when I need
to get to a law office in New Haven and have had good luck, but New Haven si a
very busy transit system.<BR><BR>Nice thing about Waterbury is they run later
now. You can get a ride up until 9 p.m. which it used to be 5 p.m. was
the latest. Now they are talking about extending service until 11 p.m.
which is verynice for people that ork later or 2nd shift or just want to do
stuff in the evening.<BR><BR><BR>-----Inline Attachment
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