[Nfb-kzoo] Partnership?

[Jason Meddaugh]

This is great. That would be awesome. I'm also in contact with Clever
Devices, one of the largest providers of these systems to get cost
estimates and to get a company on board with helping to find funding,
etc. Anyone who has experience to offer is most welcome, and it would
be great to get as many on board as possible. Also, it's cheaper to
provide fixed route trips than Metrovan, so we could make a potential
case that some riders would be more comfortable to used the fixed
routes if all stops were announced.

On 3/30/09, Timothy Paulding <tjpaulding at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey,
> I forwarded the transportation letter on to Michele McGowan, Advocacy and
> Education person at Disability network. Thought it might be good if The
> Transportation Advocacy group could sign on to this as well. She is very
> resourceful. Please read her response below and tell me what you think,
> chapter.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michele McGowen [mailto:mmcgowen at dnswm.org]
> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 9:25 AM
> To: Timothy J. Paulding
> Subject: RE: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
> I think we (TAG) could collaborate!  I would suggest we need to send it
> to the Metro Transit Authority Board and the Kalamazoo County Transit
> Authority and cc Mr. Schomisch and Dale Hein.  I can get names and
> addresses for you if you think it is a good idea.  That way it goes to
> the Boards & the Staff responsible for the transit system.  Not a bad
> idea to copy the City of Kalamazoo Manager Ken Collard as well.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy J. Paulding [mailto:tjpaulding at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 5:15 PM
> To: Michele McGowen
> Subject: Fwd: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
> Remember JJ? Read this note we are putting  together to send to
> Shomish. collaborate?
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "J.J. Meddaugh" <jj at bestmidi.com>
> Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:04:33 -0400
> Subject: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
> To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>
>
> 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:
>
> My name is J.J. Meddaugh, and I a member of the Kalamazoo chapter of
> the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan. 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.
>
> The Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the Blind would be
> happy to work with you and your organization to implement this system,
> 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. I urge you to consider this
> request, and look forward to hearing from you soon.
>
> Sincerely,
> J.J. Meddaugh
>
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