[NFBSea] FW: Hello from the Transportation Data Equity Initiative

[jacobstruiksma at gmail.com]

Passing on for your information.

Hello from the Transportation Data Equity Initiative

 

 

I'm contacting you regarding the Transportation Data Equity Initiative that was recently funded by the USDOT. 

The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology has been working on travel equity and accessibility for 6 years now, and we are finally being heard at the national level! The US Department of Transportation recently funded our project to create national data standards and scalable collection techniques that adequately reflect the concerns of all travelers, regardless of age or abilities. In a very broad summary, this is not an attempt to displace building standards like those in the ADA, but to focus on actionable information people need in order to feel confident that the route they plan will be navigable and accessible to them. Through work with our community, we've identified large gaps to exist in the currently available information in trip planners. We are focusing on information about sidewalks, about transit stations, and about on-demand/paratransit service offerings. Our vision is a future where planning applications like Google Directions(TM) or Moovel(TM)  provide enough information about these environments and services requiring no further investigation on a traveler's part to plan an accessible trip.


As we embark on this larger scale national project, we recognize it is of utmost importance for us to continue listening to community members to ensure that the plan reflects real needs. We are looking for travelers across diverse locales and abilities to take part in an information session next week on Thursday, 4/22 between 11am-1pm PST.

Would you be able to attend? would you also be able to reach out to people and organizations who may be interested in being involved?

For those individuals who would like to stay informed about the project, we will reach out with opportunities to participate in design sessions, vet data and data standards, serve on our Advisory Committees (this is a paid opportunity) and other beta testing opportunities once the traveler applications go "live".

 

The Information session will be co-led by myself, Anat Caspi (Director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at UW), Karen Braitmayer (Principal, Studio Pacifica), in collaboration with David Miller (Orientation and Mobility Specialist for Lighthouse for the Blind).

 

Meeting format: Meetings will take place remotely (via Zoom with live captioning and ASL interpreters) on April 22nd, April 29th, and May 13th between 11 AM and 1 PM  Pacific Standard Time.

Would you be interested in joining us? Would you possibly recommend other travelers with disabilities who have some understanding about data and technology who would be interested in the Transportation Data Equity Initiative?

 

Many thanks for your ongoing support and participation!

 

Sincerely, 

 

Anat Caspi, PhD
Director, Taskar Center for Accessible Technology
Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington
caspian at cs.washington.edu <mailto:caspian at cs.washington.edu> 

 

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