[Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit

Wed Apr 1 21:37:02 UTC 2009

Yes. there's OSD which is headed by Stephen Denuyl. Maybe Tyler can ask him 
about that one?

As for ACB here,their website says
You are welcome to join us at our monthly meetings which are held on the 
second Thursday
of the month at the Disability Resource Center, 517 East Crosstown Parkway. 
We get
together at 5:30pm and go to 8:00pm. You do not have to be visually impaired 
to attend.
I wonder if that's still accurate/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Paulding" <tpaulding at dnswm.org>
To: "NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List" <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit

> Jage, Tyler and chapter,
> I'll call Ron lamb at starfish and see if we can get him and his members
> on board with signing this letter. Can you get in contact with some
> persons at Organization for students with disabilities?
>
> Can others in the chapter think of other local groups to sign on? Should
> we try to get leaders of each group to list names of persons in their
> group who would like to sign on?  I think that would be pretty powerful.
>
>
> Timothy Paulding
> Information Technology Coordinator
> -------------------
> Disability Network
> Southwest Michigan
> 517 E. Crosstown Pkwy
> Kalamazoo, MI  49001
> 269.345.1516 x28
> www.dnswm.org
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Boone, Christine (DELEG)
> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:00 PM
> To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
> I think that you can do it one of two ways:
>
> You can leave the letter as it is, and add a paragraph at the end that
> says something like:
>
> I am please to report that the following individuals and organizations
> are joining the National Federation of the Blind Kalamazoo chapter in
> requesting that a portion of the stimulus funds be allocated to
> outfitting Metro transit busses as indicated herein:
>
> Or, we could just change all of the "I" words to "we".  When you reach
> the part that speaks about the NFB, just alter that paragraph to include
> the organizations that will be a part of this excellent effort.
>
> I would ask the collective readership to let us know which approach they
> prefer.  The first is more personal, wile the second is probably more
> professional.
>
> Those are my thoughts.
>
> Christine
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of J.J. Meddaugh
> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 12:43 PM
> To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
> I like your changes a lot. Perhaps we should take me out of the letter
> if we
> are going to have several organizations sign up and have presidents and
> others sign it at the bottom?
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Boone, Christine (DELEG)" <BooneC at michigan.gov>
> To: "NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List" <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
>
>> J.J.,
>> What a great letter!
>> I have just a couple of suggestions for you.
>>
>> Rather than spelling them out, I have just pasted a copy of my
> suggested
>> revisions here.
>>
>> Dear Mr. Schomisch:
>>
>> I am writing to thank you for your willingness to improve
> accessibility
>> of the Metro Transit system and to ask for your consideration on some
>> proposed improvements.  I read with interest the probable allocation
> of
>> roughly 3.1 million dollars of Federal stimulus funds to be spent on
>> capital improvements. I would like to recommend that a portion of this
>> money be used to outfit the entire bus fleet with a modern positioning
>> and audible stop announcement system which would help to increase
> access
>> to passengers who are blind or print disabled.
>>
>> Unfortunately, the current system used to announce stops is
>> unpredictable and inadequate. Only major stops are announced, and the
>> driver must manually activate the announcement. This often leads to
>> inconsistency and confusion. If an automatic system were to announce
>> every stop on each route, this would allow the driver to more
>> effectively concentrate on the roads while providing a better
> experience
>> for passengers. In addition, GPS technology could be used to offer
>> real-time bus information to all passengers in multiple forms.
>>
>> It has been my good fortune to have visited cities and towns all
> across
>> this Country, and to experience a great many audible systems on
>> metropolitan transit routs, announcing every stop.  Both  in large
> urban
>> markets and smaller towns, the audio announcements are not seen as
>> cumbersome or an annoyance. The forthcoming stimulus funding provides
>> the means that will enable the city and county of Kalamazoo to bring
> its
>> rapid mass-transit system into compliance with the Americans With
>> Disabilities Act, and other legislation that ensures equal access to
>> information for persons who are blind or print disabled.   In short,
>> this is an excellent time to implement a system like the one I have
>> described, and to keep Kalamazoo on the cutting edge of progress among
>> cities across the Country.  .
>>
>> As a member of the Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the
>> Blind of Michigan, I am herewith pledging the support of this
>> organization for the city's efforts to make our Kalamazoo mass transit
>> system more accessible to people who are blind or print disabled.  The
>> Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the Blind would be
> happy
>> to work with you and your organization to implement the system I have
>> described, to secure additional matching funds, and determine the most
>> reliable and usable technology for this project. In addition, we would
>> be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for
> considering
>> this request, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> J.J. Meddaugh
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of J.J. Meddaugh
>> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 11:05 AM
>> To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List
>> Subject: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>>
>> I would like to send the following to the director of Metro Transit,
> as
>> they are set up to receive over 3 million in federal stimulus money
> for
>> capital improvements. This is a rough draft, so probably needs some
>> work. Thoughts?
>>
>> Dear Mr. Schomisch:
>>
>> I am writing to thank you for your willingness to improve
> accessibility
>> of the Metro Transit system and ask for your consideration on some
>> proposed improvements.
>>
>> I read with interest the probable allocation of roughly 3.1 million
>> dollars of Federal stimulus funds to be spent on capital improvements.
> I
>> would like to recommend that a portion of this money be used to outfit
>> the entire bus fleet with a modern positioning and audible stop
>> announcement system which would help to increase access to blind and
>> visually impaired passengers.
>>
>> Unfortunately, the current system used to announce stops is
>> unpredictable and inadequate. Only major stops are announced, and the
>> driver must manually activate the announcement. This often leads to
>> inconsistency and confusion. If an automatic system were to announce
>> every stop on each route, this would allow the driver to more
>> effectively concentrate on the roads while providing a better
> experience
>> for passengers. In addition, GPS technology could be used to offer
>> realtime bus information to all passengers in multiple forms.
>>
>> I have experienced audible systems announcing every stop in systems
>> large and small, and the audio announcements are not seen as
> cumbersome
>> or an annoyance. This funding provides for an excellent time to
>> implement such a system.
>>
>> As a member of the Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the
>> Blind of Michigan, I am herewith pledging the support of this
>> organization for the city's efforts to make our Kalamazoo mass transit
>> system more accessible to people who are blind.  The Kalamazoo chapter
>> of the National Federation of the Blind would be happy to work with
> you
>> and your organization to implement the system I have described, secure
>> additional matching funds, and determine the most reliable and usable
>> technology for this project. In addition, we would be happy to answer
>> any questions you may have. Thank you for considering this request,
> and
>> I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> J.J. Meddaugh
>>
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