Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting - 39

2010 Annual Meeting

WMATA Expands Travel Training Throughout the Washington Region
BY CHERRY-ANN SANTOS Communications Program Manager Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Washington, DC
n individual may have no greater independence than the simple freedom to go wherever he or she wants or needs to go. This is the freedom that Maurice Tennessee described as he talked about his experience of learning how to navigate the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metrorail system. “Before I learned how to travel by Metrorail, I was forced to always use a paratransit system or cab to get around,” he said. “This meant scheduling in advanced and waiting for someone else to show up. Now, I feel absolutely liberated to be able to travel at my own convenience.” Tennessee is blind and rides Metrorail each day from his home in Arlington, VA, to the Metrorail station at the Pentagon. He has been making the trip for almost a year now, thanks to Metro’s travel training program. He learned to navigate the rail system with the help of Metro System Orientation Specialist Brigid Doherty, whose job is to train persons with disabilities on how to use Metrorail and Metrobus. Doherty is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist who works mainly with people who are blind or have low vision. She has low vision herself, having lost much of her eyesight when she was 21 years old. “Being a person with a disability does not have to reduce one’s lifestyle,” she emphasized. “People with disabilities also have to go to work, get to school, pick up kids, go to appointments, and attend functions. Metro allows for that.” Doherty is one of five Metro system orientation specialists in the authority’s Department of Access Services. Each specializes in different areas, providing practical travel training on how to safely and independently use Metrorail, Metrobus, and local bus systems in the region. Metro’s travel trainers also provide support materials such as maps, brochures, and Metrorail station guides. Training sessions include helpful safety tips and information about emergency procedures. Metro’s travel training typically takes one-half to one day to complete. Persons with disabilities are often referred to travel training by the Transit Accessibility Center, located on the lobby level of Metro’s headquarters in downtown Washington. If the customer is a senior citizen, he or she may be referred to Metro System Orientation Specialist Reginald Ward, who works primarily with older adults. “I feel good when I see people I have trained getting out and traveling on their own by the bus and rail,” said Ward, who has provided this service for

the past 17 years. “Many of my seniors had previously stopped driving and were becoming less independent.” Other Metro travel trainers include Wanda Elliott, who primarily works with school systems throughout the region and with students with disabilities; Cherie Leporatti, whose main focus is individuals with cognitive and psychiatric disabilities; and Gernae Weaver, who provides travel training to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and works closely with Gallaudet University, among other organizations.

WMATA System Orientation Specialist Brigid Doherty navigates through a station with customer Maurice Tennessee.

WMATA has had a travel training program for a number of years. However, it was determined that people with more significant disabilities needed more comprehensive training that the agency had neither the staffing nor the resources to provide. For this reason, Metro, in collaboration with the Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia Centers for Independent Living (CIL), received a $1.2 million federal grant to expand travel training in the region. The grant allowed each of the CILs to hire two full-time travel trainers with backgrounds working with persons with disabilities. These additional travel trainers provide more extensive instruction to prospective Metro riders with significant disabilities, and can run from a few days to a number of weeks or months. The CIL travel training program also focuses on helping low-income people with significant disabilities learn how to travel to and from job sites and employment-related activities. Metro oversees the grant project and is the training and technical assistance partner. “This program expansion allows more extensive travel training to people with disabilities throughout the region,” said Christian T. Kent, assistant general manager of WMATA’s Department of Access Services. WMATA launched the expansion of travel training earlier this year to

WMATA CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
September 27, 2010 | 35

Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting

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