[Md-sligo] Silver Spring Transit Center

[Debbie Brown]

I toured the Silver Spring Transit Center this morning.  I know that many of you asked if there would be a tour.  I actually got the information about the tour on Friday evening.  This is an argument for going to hearings whenever you can, because I asked a WMATA planner at Thursday night's bus hearing.

I am not sure why more people were not invited.  With us were two members of the WMATA Accessibility Advisory Committee, a WMATA ADA staff member (Christiaan Blake), a member of the downtown Silver Spring District (Don Scheuermann), a MetroAccess supervisor, and one of the engineers.  We were able to see a few things, but I still have unanswered questions.

You enter the lower level directly from the Silver Spring rail station.  The first bus bay on your right is 101, which is the MetroAccess dropoff and pickup.  Buses may also drop off there, but they are supposed to give Metro Access priority.  There is a bench.  Behind and to the left of the bench is a concrete column with a screen and a button on the right as you face it.  Pressing the button will enlarge the text and give you an audio presentation on what bus is at that stop and the estimated arrival time.  I don't know if the layout is the same at all the stops.  

There are no poles at the stops.  I am not sure if poles will be installed.  I haven't figured out who is running the show here.  There are now colored markers at each bus stop.  I have made my opinion known that we want poles because we don't like being passed up by buses because we are slightly off the mark.  I said we like the bus signs on Wayne, Dixon and the surround ing areas.  The braille is as good as it was when the signs were installed.  It seems sensible to place braille in a permanent structure.   

You must cross the bus lane to get to the escalator, stairs and elevators.  There are 3 elevators.  The elevators I saw had correct but not very sharp braille.  The speech on one of the elevators seemed a little distorted for a brand'new speaker.  

The county managed to misspend some of our tax dollards to install some allegedly tactile material on the crosswalks.  I can't detect it with my cane or shoe, and I don't intend to test it barefoot.  Obviously no blind people had input on this.  I think that people are usually tapping, not sliding, when crossing a street because they are listening for echoes, and asking them to follow a crack to detect a crosswalk is unreasonable.  

The other weird blindness feature I heard advertised but did not see was in the TRIPS store, which is a place I never go because it isn't open when I am out and about in the mornings and evenings.  There are allegedly cane-detectable legs on the counter.  I have never had trouble finding a counter when I was close enough to touch it with my cane.  I hope this isn't a trippingg hazard or an obstruction for wheelchairs.

The layout is on three levels.  The lower level, which adjoins the exit of the rail station, has the MetroAccess stop and, as far as I can tell, buses going into Montgomery County (J, Y, Z).  I assume a lot of Ride-On buses are on that level.  The second level has buses going into DC and Prince Georges County (70, S, F).  There is a bridge from the second level going to the MARC station.  The third level has parking, Kiss and Ride, and cab stands.  The cab stand is on the right when you get off the elevator or escalator, and it is a little hike.  The first level is fully covered, the second level is partially covered, and the upper level is completely open (probably hot in the summer and windy in the winter).  It is not clear if Greyhound will use the facility, but not in the predictable future.  

This is less information then I would like to give you, but now you know all that I know.

Debbie



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