to Councilman Jerry Compton regarding bus services. Date: January 11, 2013 Dear Councilman Compton: My name is Erin Magoon. I am totally blind and have a Golden Retriever service animal. I am writing you to express my deep concern about issues that have arisen at the City Utilities Transit Department since the new director took over. There have been several changes made to the bus schedules, times and routes. There have been no public hearings on the matter. I have been informed public hearings are not necessary unless more than twenty-five percent of the overall routes are being changed. Even so, since a majority of the changes impact disabled people along the routes, I find this disconcerting. Changes to several routes and the addition of one new route, went into effect on Monday, January 7, 2013 and there are no Braille, audio or otherwise accessible maps or time schedules available for these changes to those of us who are blind orvisually impaired. These changes have affected other members of the disability community and our concerns are appearing to fall on deaf ears. I have called the director several times and she has not returned my phone calls. I ride Access Express in addition to the fixed route and on Sunday, January 6, 2013, I was not picked up. I followed the protocol of what you do when Access is late. My scheduled pick up was for 6:20 pm, which means they can arrive between 6:00 pm and 6:40 pm. I called the phone number at Access at 6:45, five minutes after the twenty minute window and left a message. I was finally called back thirty-five minutes later by a supervisor who informed me he could not raise the driver and that driver had missed two other pick-ups as well. I was taken home, eventually, but I had to use the fixed route buses, which is extremely difficult for me right now, due to a recent knee surgery. If you remember it was extremely cold that night and I was outside waiting for nearly 1.5 hours. The next day, Monday, I called to talk to the woman who used to be the representative for passengers with disabilities. She told me that was no longer her position and directed me to call Sheila Schmidt the new Director. I did so on both Monday and Thursday of this week, left messages and have not been contacted by her nor a member of her staff. I am still not aware of what happened that night, if I should have taken other actions or what the future protocol should be to prevent me from waiting in the cold for all that time. I am again extremely concerned by the apparent lack of concern and communication between the director, her staff and the bus riding community especially those of us with disabilities. Several friends and acquaintances as well as I, are attending the City Utilities Board of Public Utilities board meeting on January 31, at 3:00 pm to raise our concerns about this matter. We intend to come to the city council meeting on Monday February 11th to raise our concerns with the Council as well. I am hearing a lot of rumors and gossip about potential changes in the transportation system that is causing me great distress. It has always been my philosophy to go straight to the source when rumors come up. I cannot seem to get any answers about the bus changes from the new director or her staff so I am left to speculate which I do not like doing. Perhaps you have a suggestion on how I can get clear, direct communication in this matter. thank you very much for your time and attention to this issue. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Erin Magoon