[nabs-l] transportation in your area

Mon May 25 22:54:53 UTC 2009

Hi  Jenny,
Transportation around campus is simple!  Use your cane and walk around! 
With proper use of the cane you can transport yourself safely around campus.
I am more curious about the transportation around campus area.  As students 
we want to get off campus to socialize, go to malls, or just eat away from 
the institutional cafeteria.  So its good if public transit is adaquate 
around campus to meet these needs.  I was so thankful Marymount had a 
shuttle to the metro for staff and students.  This allowed me to get out
and go to the convenience store or grab a bite out sometimes.

It disturbs me to read that a nearby college in this day treats blind 
students as helpless providing
golf carts to transport them.  I think this is fine for DSS to provide for 
other disabilities but not blindness.
I can see why a mobility impaired or cognitively impaired person might 
benefit from this.  But for blind people its our responsibilty to learn our 
way and do it ourselves.
I learned with the help of an o and M instructor and exploration.  Because I 
wanted to focus on academics in the semester, prior to classes, I practiced 
and planned routes.  For unfamiliar places I asked directions.

Ashley

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "V Nork" <ginisd at sbcglobal.net>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 10:08 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] transportation in your area

> Hello everyone, My name is Ginnie , and I am fairly new to the list.  My 
> degree, in psychology and journalism, is a bachelor's degree that is about 
> twenty years old now.  I received all my education  when my eyesight was 
> perfect , so the experience of attending college as a  person who is 
> currently totally blind is of course another world.  I am hoping to get a 
> masters degree or a certificate .  I would love it if some of you on the 
> list could share your experiences with personal transportation, in a 
> sense. That is, what strategies do you use to walk safely to classrooms, 
> the library, the bookstore, etcetera?  I am sure there is a huge range of 
> personal stories out there.  For me, just walking around campus with my 
> cane involves a huge hassle factor, which can be overwhelming when I want 
> to branch out from the handful of places I know how to get to.  I am in 
> California, and on my campus you are expected to fend for yourself in 
> getting around which seems crazy since this is a huge urban campus with a 
> Disabled Student Services and Programs office.  This  lack of help is in 
> contrast to another campus only a dozen miles away which actually provides 
> golf carts to transport blind students to classes.  I have been trained 
> extensively in white cane travel, and still I am on a campus that 
> sometimes feels, despite my fairly good skills,  like a bewildering maze. 
> It is a school built on terraces, with lots of stairs and different 
> levels.  There is a sparse population at times, so there is not always 
> someone to ask, say, am I on track for the library?  What I would like is 
> just to have some help initially developing a route to a classroom, and 
> after that just going on my own with my cane .  Funds from the Department 
> of Rehabilitation for mobility trainers can be  quite limited..  I have 
> yet to go to the library independently after several semesters, since I do 
> not yet know how to get there.  Years ago, when budgets in the state were 
> fatter, there were mobility aides to help blind students at my school. 
> Don't misunderstand me, despite a slight balance problem which complicates 
> things r for me a bit, I love walking with the cane at my own pace under 
> my own steam.  It just seems that I would like more of my energy to go 
> into academics, and not  into worrying about how to plan routes .  Anyway, 
> as a newcomer to the list, I know there  are lots of thoughtful persons 
> among you,and I am curious to hear what your campus mobility has been 
> like.   Ginnie
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "alena roberts" <alena.roberts2282 at gmail.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] transportation in your area
>
>
>> Ashley,
>>
>> Thanks for coming up with the new topic. In my city, public transit is
>> decent. the buses go pretty much everywhere in town and the drivers
>> are very nice. One of the great things about our buses is that they
>> have an automated system that actually tells you every stop, not just
>> the major ones. This makes my riding experience so much better because
>> I know when to pull the cord for my stop. My one complaint is that
>> because Corvallis is small, and my ruite is so large, my bus only
>> comes once an hour. Other than that I am pretty happy with the bus
>> system here. I look forward to hearing more people's experiences.
>>
>> Alena
>>
>> On 5/22/09, Ashley  Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> Let's have a more productive topic than rehashing ACB/NFB frictions. 
>>> I've
>>> got one.
>>>
>>> How is the transportation in your area?  Say where you go to school as 
>>> that
>>> makes a difference.  If you're in a metropolitian area its probably 
>>> decent.
>>> How about near your home?  If you have transportation, is it adaquate? 
>>> Are
>>> bus drivers accomodating by calling out bus stops upon request?  Are 
>>> they
>>> helpful in giving directions to find seats if you want it?
>>>
>>> For me, its pretty decent at school.  I'm near DC, in northern va.  When 
>>> I
>>> attended the large state school George Mason University, GMU was great. 
>>> The
>>> CUE bus came to GMU and went around the city and to the Vienna metro. 
>>> Metro
>>> Buses were just across the street from the college.
>>> At Marymount in Arlington, the school shuttle bus went to Ballston 
>>> metro.
>>> That's our subway.  From there you could take the metro, get 
>>> Art(arlington)
>>> buses, many metro buses, or walk to many shops and restaurants.  Ruby
>>> Tuesday, IHOP, a pizza place, and Chevy's were just a few accessible.
>>> At home there are not sidewalks and metro buses are not accessible to 
>>> us.
>>> So I have not done much public transit travel.  I did some on mobility 
>>> and
>>> when I lived at MU since I had access to them.
>>>
>>> In my limited experience, metro is good.  Other customers are friendly 
>>> and
>>> happily answer my questions as to what line to go on as there is no
>>> accessible way to know you're in front of an orange or blue train; they
>>> share the same track.  Drivers announce stops on buses although many now
>>> have talking systems announcing major stops automatically.
>>> On a crowded bus or subway as I'm departing its helpful that most of the
>>> riders move out of the way so I can have a clear path and exit before 
>>> the
>>> door closes.  Especially on metro rail, subway, you have a limited time 
>>> to
>>> exit until the door shuts and you miss your stop.
>>> On metro rail drivers announce stops, but if I can't hear them due to 
>>> low
>>> voice or something, I count stops or ask fellow passengers.
>>>
>>> Metro service is better during the day time as with all public transit
>>> services.  On weekends its infrequent.  Some lines do not run and others
>>> only run a bus once an hour.
>>>
>>> So those are my thoughts.
>>> Ashley
>>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Alena Roberts
>> Blog: http://www.blindgal.com/
>>
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