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The following press release is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA
<br>
Center (<br>
<a href="http://www.adagreatlakes.org">www.adagreatlakes.org</a><br>
) for your information:<br>
Press Release:<br>
Taxi Technology for Passengers who are Blind or Visually Impaired<br>
Contact: Don Hoffman (Lighthouse), 212-981-5118<br>
Partnership leads to accessibility improvements for blind and visually
<br>
impaired taxi<br>
riders in New York and around the nation<br>
April 17, 2012, New York - In partnership with Creative Mobile <br>
Technologies (CMT)<br>
and Lighthouse International, Council Member James Vacca, Chair of the
<br>
Council Transportation<br>
Committee, and former New York Governor David A. Paterson today announced
<br>
groundbreaking<br>
software enhancements designed to enable blind and visually impaired taxi
<br>
riders<br>
to independently access the credit card payment system and other <br>
technology features<br>
in New York's yellow medallion taxicabs as well as taxi fleets around the
<br>
nation.<br>
CMT created adaptive software that will allow blind or visually impaired
<br>
taxi passengers<br>
to hear the fare changing in regular intervals during the trip and <br>
facilitate all<br>
aspects of the credit card or cash payment functions upon reaching their
<br>
destination,<br>
including selection of payment options, verification of fare and
selection <br>
of tip<br>
percentages. CMT's audible touch screen system, which can be activated by
<br>
a special<br>
card or by simply asking the driver, will transform the screen into
large, <br>
easy-to-navigate<br>
sections that are operated by touch and prompted by step-by-step spoken
<br>
instructions.<br>
"I consistently hear that New York City is one of the most difficult
<br>
places for blind<br>
and visually impaired individuals to navigate," said Vacca. The
payment <br>
system in<br>
taxicabs has been a great improvement for passengers, and visually <br>
impaired riders<br>
deserve to enjoy the same benefits of that system. This nationwide <br>
initiative to<br>
make taxis more accessible for visually impaired riders is a major <br>
achievement, both<br>
for the industry, and for this community. I want to commend CMT and <br>
Lighthouse for<br>
making this a priority. This technology will make a real difference for
<br>
people who<br>
need it."<br>
This software is critical to the blind and visually impaired community's
<br>
ability<br>
to independently pay taxi fares. Prior to implementation of this new
<br>
software, blind<br>
and visually impaired passengers who chose to use credit cards were
forced <br>
to rely<br>
on cab drivers to swipe their card and enter the correct amount,
including <br>
tip. Not<br>
only is this a violation of current TLC rules, but also it exposes the
<br>
visually impaired<br>
passenger to the potential for fraudulent transactions, including <br>
overpayment.<br>
"As a blind New Yorker I am part of a community that until now did
not <br>
benefit from<br>
the convenience of being able to use a credit card in the city's cabs
when <br>
the technology<br>
was first mandated in 2008," said David A.Paterson, 55th Governor of
the <br>
State of<br>
New York. "I applaud CMT for extending electronic payment to an
often <br>
underserved<br>
community by making New York City taxis independently accessible for the
<br>
vision impaired.<br>
Council Member James Vacca and Lighthouse International also deserve a
<br>
great deal<br>
of gratitude for their undying stewardship of this significant
issue."<br>
In addition to its NYC rollout, CMT also plans to introduce software in
<br>
4,500 credit<br>
card and payment systems in taxis around the country including Chicago,
<br>
Boston, San<br>
Francisco, Philadelphia, Anaheim, Detroit, Kansas City, Columbus and
<br>
Charlotte.<br>
CMT and Lighthouse International will issue blind and visually impaired
<br>
individuals<br>
a card, compatible with any CMT taxi nationwide, that will activate the
<br>
adaptive<br>
software, though an activation card will not be required to engage the
<br>
system.<br>
"CMT is excited to work alongside Chairman Vacca and Lighthouse
<br>
International to<br>
produce these innovative software solutions that will revolutionize the
<br>
taxi experience<br>
for our blind and visually impaired customers," said Jesse H. Davis,
<br>
President of<br>
Creative Mobile Technologies. "We are very proud of the CMT team for
<br>
developing<br>
this innovative technology, and we praise the hard working advocates at
<br>
Lighthouse<br>
International who provided us with invaluable feedback in shaping its
<br>
development<br>
and to Chairman Vacca who has demonstrated great leadership on this
issue. <br>
We look<br>
forward to rolling out this feature in New York City and in CMT markets
<br>
throughout<br>
the nation."<br>
"This is an excellent example of the private sector working with
<br>
government leaders<br>
and advocates to voluntarily change a system that has excluded the <br>
independent participation<br>
of thousands of people who are blind or visually impaired for far too
<br>
long," said<br>
Mark G. Ackermann, President and CEO of Lighthouse International.
"We are <br>
delighted<br>
to have played a role in this nationwide initiative and will continue
<br>
working to<br>
ensure that every taxi in the nation is accessible to people with a
visual <br>
impairment.<br>
Many thanks to Council Member James Vacca for his continued leadership on
<br>
behalf<br>
of people who are blind and visually impaired and to Creative Mobile
<br>
Technologies<br>
for their willingness to make this a reality."<br>
"Having a credit card system that talks will make riding in a taxi
more <br>
accessible,<br>
enabling me to pay by credit card independently. I applaud the efforts of
<br>
Council<br>
Member Vacca and Creative Mobile Technologies for making this
possible," <br>
said Ellen<br>
Rubin, independent access consultant.<br>
"We applaud this innovation, which we believe will enhance the
ability of <br>
visually<br>
impaired New Yorkers to more independently use taxis and to pay for their
<br>
trips with<br>
credit and debit cards," said Commissioner David Yassky, Chairman of
the <br>
Taxi and<br>
Limousine Commission. "This is another good example of leveraging
<br>
technology to help<br>
overcome barriers to accessibility, and we look forward to working with
<br>
the tech<br>
community to bring further innovation to taxis with the goal of making
<br>
taxis more<br>
accessible to everyone."<br>
Lighthouse International estimates that the prevalence rate of vision
loss <br>
in New<br>
York City is 362,000. This number will only increase because of the aging
<br>
population<br>
and age-related causes of visual impairment and blindness, as well as
<br>
blindness due<br>
to uncontrolled diabetes.<br>
This announcement is the latest in a string of pro-accessibility measures
<br>
championed<br>
by Vacca, whose own father was blind. On March 28, the New York City
<br>
Council passed<br>
three bills aimed at improving mobility for blind and low vision <br>
individuals navigating<br>
the city. Vacca's bill, Introduction 745, requires the Department of
<br>
Transportation<br>
to post maps of major street redesigns on its website in a format <br>
accessible for<br>
people with sight and hearing disabilities. Lighthouse International
<br>
played a major<br>
role in securing the passage of this legislation, which Mayor Bloomberg
<br>
will sign<br>
today at 5 p.m. in the Governor's Room at City Hall.<br>
*About Lighthouse International:*<br>
Founded in 1905, Lighthouse International is a leading non-profit <br>
organization dedicated<br>
to fighting vision loss through prevention, treatment and empowerment. It
<br>
achieves<br>
this through clinical and rehabilitation services, education, research
and <br>
advocacy.<br>
For more information about vision loss and its causes, contact Lighthouse
<br>
International<br>
at 1-800-829-0500 or visit<br>
<a href="http://www.lighthouse.org">www.lighthouse.org</a><br>
.<br>
*About Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT):* Founded in New York City in
<br>
2005 by taxi<br>
industry leaders, Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) provides more than
<br>
20,000 taxicabs<br>
in 60 cities and 35 states with a variety of taxi technologies and <br>
enhancements including<br>
credit and debit card processing, media and advertising content, text
<br>
messaging,<br>
interactive passengers maps, GPS, electronic trip sheets and back-office
<br>
fleet management<br>
systems. CMT has more than 6,600 units in New York City alone. CMT's
<br>
unique "for<br>
the industry, by the industry" business model has empowered taxi
fleets <br>
and individual<br>
taxi operators throughout the country with customized solutions born out
<br>
of the company's<br>
deep roots in the taxi industry. CMT's FREEdom Solution integrates all of
<br>
the technology<br>
including dispatching, banking and media components that has helped to
<br>
bring the<br>
American taxi industry into a new era of efficiency and innovation.<br>
Source:<br>
<a href="http://www.lighthouse.org/news/press-releases/vacca">
http://www.lighthouse.org/news/press-releases/vacca</a></blockquote>
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