[Ohio-talk] Mainstream

Thu Nov 14 02:40:58 UTC 2013

Hello Also,
The reason I said TARPS had improved is that the previous person in charge of determining eligibility and handling complaints always found in favor of the driver no matter what.
She also felt that if you were blind you should have someone at your house looking out the window for you. I did tell her that if I had someone who could do that I would just have them take me to the appointment.
I realize that wouldn't always be possible but I was trying to make a point. I did tell her that most blind people probably wouldn't have someone there to look out the window.
She also felt that blind people shouldn't go to the Metroparks without someone with them.
Never mind that there is a program for people to do Trail Walks with a volunteer if they choose to do so. This was brought up because the driver let the person off at a horse stable with no one around because he didn't read the signage.
Fortunately someone happened to come along and walked the person back to the spot.
Municipalities are free to set up their own rules for pickup and returns. TARPS also calls a person's phone with a recorded message and sends a text saying your bus will be there soon.
This isn't always so great because sometimes you are already on the bus and sometimes it's in the beginning of your window and the bus doesn't get there until fifteen minutes after your schedulEd pickup which is at the end of your window.
TARPS drivers are usually very happy when people are ready early and willing to go early because they sometimes have 4 people scheduled at the exact same time in different parts of Toledo and the suburbs.
It's still better than it used to be though.
Colleen Roth

----- Original Message -----
From: Deborah Kendrick <dkkendrick at earthlink.net>
To: "'Ationfb of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 7:40 am
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Mainstream

>
>
> Carol, 
> I, for one, am so glad you have raised this issue here, as I'm interested in
> the various city's protocols.  
> Here in Cincinnati, I use the service very infrequently.  When I do,
> however, there is no way for me to know the vehicle is arrived unless I am
> standing right there in front of it when it pulls up.  I have begged and
> pleaded with personel in the Access office, explining that I can neither see
> nor hear the vehicle approcahing unless I am outdoors and a few feet away,
> but they refuse to have a driver callme or knock on my door.  
> In New York, they called as a matter of routine, and when I used it in
> Florida last spring, the sent a text message each time to tell me the
> vehicle was on the way.  (In Pinellas County, by the way, the use taxis for
> people who are ambulatory, which makes a whole lot of sense.)  
> My guess is that people in each city are interpreting the rules to suit
> their own whims, and maybe it is an area where we could help by sharing
> information.  
> I know one blind person who was left by Access in exactly the way you
> describe — a van pulled into a parking area, no one approached, so it left.
> The woman in question was there, but didn't see or hear the van.  
> Sorry for a bit of a rant!
> Deborah
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carol
> Akers
> Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 11:50 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Mainstream
> 
> It wasn't for us, I was just watching through the window after I heard the
> beep beep of back up. No one got on before they pulled ou.  Just wondered
> what the protocol was.
> 
> Carol Akers
> 
>  
>   
>  
> 
> 
> 
> On Tuesday, November 12, 2013 10:03 PM, Wanda Sloan
> <wsloan118 at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>   
> Sounds like you had a lazy driver.  My drivers always come to my buzzer to
> let me know that they are here for me.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carol
> Akers
> Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 5:35 PM
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Mainstream
> 
> Here is a question to all you Mainstream users.
>  
> When you schedule a pickup, does the driver notify you when he or she
> arrives, or do they expect that you will be aware and waiting?  The reason I
> ask is that I heard the backing up beep (as Dusty says, the backing up van)
> and looked out to see what it by .  It was Mainstream and he did wait at
> least 5 minutes, while I was getting Dusty organized and in his stander, and
> no one appeared to get on.  There are at least 2- 3 people in my direct
> parking  area who might have scheduled the ride and whom they might have
> been waiting for.  So if someone complains that they either did not show up
> or that they were too early or too late, who did not come out for pick up?
> Just wondered.  Any response to explain this to me?
> 
> Carol Akers
>                                                
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