[Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit

Tue Mar 31 16:53:15 UTC 2009

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. We could have people and
organizations sign.

Timothy Paulding 
Information Technology Coordinator
-------------------
Disability Network 
Southwest Michigan
517 E. Crosstown Pkwy
Kalamazoo, MI  49001                                                  
269.345.1516 x28 
www.dnswm.org

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of J.J. Meddaugh
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 12:50 PM
To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List
Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit

I like your changes a lot. Perhaps we should take me out of the letter
if we 
are going to have several organizations sign up and have presidents and 
others sign it at the bottom?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Boone, Christine (DELEG)" <BooneC at michigan.gov>
To: "NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List" <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit

> J.J.,
> What a great letter!
> I have just a couple of suggestions for you.
>
> Rather than spelling them out, I have just pasted a copy of my
suggested
> revisions here.
>
> Dear Mr. Schomisch:
>
> I am writing to thank you for your willingness to improve
accessibility
> of the Metro Transit system and to 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 passengers who are blind or print disabled.
>
> 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
> real-time bus information to all passengers in multiple forms.
>
> It has been my good fortune to have visited cities and towns all
across
> this Country, and to experience a great many audible systems on
> metropolitan transit routs, announcing every stop.  Both  in large
urban
> markets and smaller towns, the audio announcements are not seen as
> cumbersome or an annoyance. The forthcoming stimulus funding provides
> the means that will enable the city and county of Kalamazoo to bring
its
> rapid mass-transit system into compliance with the Americans With
> Disabilities Act, and other legislation that ensures equal access to
> information for persons who are blind or print disabled.   In short,
> this is an excellent time to implement a system like the one I have
> described, and to keep Kalamazoo on the cutting edge of progress among
> cities across the Country.  .
>
> As a member of the Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the
> Blind of Michigan, I am herewith pledging the support of this
> organization for the city's efforts to make our Kalamazoo mass transit
> system more accessible to people who are blind or print disabled.  The
> Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the Blind would be
happy
> to work with you and your organization to implement the system I have
> described, to 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. Thank you for
considering
> this request, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>
> Sincerely,
> J.J. Meddaugh
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-kzoo-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of J.J. Meddaugh
> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 11:05 AM
> To: NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List
> Subject: [Nfb-kzoo] Proposed Letter to Metro Transit
>
> 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:
>
> 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.
>
> As a member of the Kalamazoo chapter of the National Federation of the
> Blind of Michigan, I am herewith pledging the support of this
> organization for the city's efforts to make our Kalamazoo mass transit
> system more accessible to people who are blind.  The Kalamazoo chapter
> of the National Federation of the Blind would be happy to work with
you
> and your organization to implement the system I have described, 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. Thank you for considering this request,
and
> I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>
> Sincerely,
> J.J. Meddaugh
>
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