SEPTA CUSTOMIZED COMMUNITY TRANSPORTATION, VOL. 2, ISSUE 15, SPRING/SUMMER 2012

Making Transit AccessibleWhen SEPTA opened its Accessible Travel Center in February, the Authority marked more than the unveiling of another facility — SEPTA celebrated helping people with disabilities experience the freedom of traveling on public transportation independently.

Located in a storefront in SEPTA’s Suburban Station in downtown Philadelphia and funded in part by a $140,000 Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) grant, the Center was designed to help riders with disabilities learn how to use and navigate the Authority’s transit system.

The centerpiece of the facility is the front one-third of a SEPTA bus, equipped with a ramp, fare box, wheelchair berths, stop announcements and realistic graphics to make it appear as though you’re traveling through the streets of Philadelphia. The

Center has innovative audio-visual teaching materials—including virtual tours of SEPTA’s vehicles—all designed to help passengers familiarize themselves with the various SEPTA modes of transportation.

SEPTA is the first East Coast transit agency to have an accessible travel training center of this kind. The Center was established in response to requests by customers using wheelchairs for bus boarding practice and system orientation. “Supporting independence and mobility is our goal. Travel training enables passengers with disabilities to use public transportation for specific trips on their own and gives them more personal freedom,” said Cynthia Lister, SEPTA’s Regulatory Coordinator.

“Members of the disabled community can use regular bus service rather than ADA paratransit, which requires day-before reservations, they set their own transportation schedule. They can decide

• A message from our new COO,

Warren Montauge

• SAC / Associated Services for the Blind

Awards Ceremony

• ADA and Accessibility

• Meet Warren Montague

• CCT Update

• Of Interest to Customers

Prsrt StdU.S.

Postage Paid Bellmawr NJPermit # 403

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Customers can practice boarding the ramp, negotiating the fare box, and navigating into the wheelchair berth at the Accessible Transportation Center.

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INSIDE THIS EDITION

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Of INTEREST TO CUSTOMERSSEPTA does not endorse the products or services offered by the companies listed below. The data below is for information purposes only.

For years people who used motorized mobility devises and who did not have access to private lift-equipped vehicles were restricted to public transit, including paratransit. Well that’s slowly changing. Recently, the first wheelchair accessible taxi company – FREEDOM TAXI – began serving our region. Like other cab companies, they are governed by the PUC, charging the same rate per mile ($2.70). And, like other cab companies, they will take you anywhere, even Atlantic City. What makes them different? They are the first truly wheelchair accessible, hybrid and GREEN fleet of vehicles in our region. To contact FREEDOM TAXI call 215-222-9999. Remember, it’s a start-up company, so vehicles and drivers are limited, and advanced reservations are strongly encouraged.

Looking to buy, lease or rent an accessible van? VCI Mobility buys, sells, rents and services wheelchair vans. To contact VCI Mobility call 888/834-8281; or visit their website at www.vcimobility.com.

Looking for affordable wheelchair accessible housing? The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) has 1, 2, 3 & 4 bedroom accessible units designed to accommodate persons with mobility impairments. To apply for PHA accessible housing visit their Central Admissions Office at 712 N. 16th Street, Philadelphia PA 19130; go online at www.pha.phila.gov; or call PHA at 215-684-4379 to have an application mailed to you.

Prefer to stay in your home but need modifications to make it accessible, contact Liberty Wheels at 215/765-1530. The company offers a wide range of mobility equipment and solutions including wheelchairs, scooters, ramps, lift recliners, equipment rentals, etc. Their factory-certified technicians can repair equipment too. Visit their website at www.libertywheels.net.

CCT UPDATE

Communications Update CCT is in the final phase of its 18 million dollar communications upgrade project which replaced, not only the software and hardware used to schedule and monitor rides, but the technology used to relay and track information between CCT Connect operators and dispatchers.

Today, all 7500 plus weekday and 1700 plus weekend trips are scheduled in one software program, on the same computer system, integrating all customer-related files for the first time. Each CCT Connect vehicle is equipped with a mobile data computer that provides information to both drivers and dispatchers as customers are picked up and dropped off throughout the day; and a GPS system with turn-by-turn direction, that assist drivers as they navigate from one part of the SEPTA service area to another. In addition, every vehicle has a customer ID card reader that verifies who is being picked up, and also tracks the time the person gets on and off the vehicle.

Photo identification cards were introduced—a real benefit for operators transporting customers with cognitive disabilities; and some customers are now able to reserve, check on and cancel rides, 24 hours a day, without speaking to a reservationist.

Recently, we’ve installed new diagnostic tools to enhance both scheduling and same day service. Soon, we’ll introduce a web-portal that will let customers reserve, check on, and cancel rides; look at their past trips; and enter service commendations and concerns.

Since CCT began using the new scheduling technology, customers have noticed changes in the way CCT Connect service is now delivered. For example, some customers have called concerning an increase in the length of time they are on CCT Connect vehicles; while others have called regarding transfers; and still others have called regarding feeder service. Below is an update on each.

Trip LengthThere are no regulatory restrictions on trip length. There is, however, a requirement that trip length “be comparable” to trips on regular bus or light rail service (not commuter or express service). SEPTA’s standard, which was approved by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is to keep trip length to no more than 1.5 times what it would take to reach your destination via regular bus or light rail service including transfers, walk and wait time.

TransfersRemember, the premise behind ADA paratransit service is to mirror or complement regular fixed route bus service. Customers using fixed route buses may have to make multiple transfers to reach their destination. Today’s technology makes it possible for CCT to schedule paratransit trips with multiple transfers in order to manage the demand for paratransit service. Transfers may be paratransit to paratransit, or paratransit to fixed route buses and light rail. Customers are notified in advance if their trip requires one or more transfers.

feeder Service When paratransit is needed to reach an accessible boarding location, it is called “Feeder Service.” ADA requires transit agencies to provide paratransit as a feeder service to customers who are functionally unable to travel to or from an accessible boarding location. When paratransit is used as a feeder service, there is no fare. The customer only pays the appropriate fixed route bus, light rail or regional rail fare. Today’s technology now makes it possible for the reservationist to assist the customer with his feeder service to the nearest accessible boarding location. Free feeder trips can also be arranged from fixed-route stops to a customer’s destination, if needed.

to work extra hours, meet friends after work—the choice is theirs,” added Rod Powell, chairman of the SEPTA Advisory Committee for Accessible Transportation. “Instructions are offered by appointment, to individuals and small groups, Monday through Friday during regular business hours, rain or shine. The Center is also available for use by certified travel instructors, Orientation and Mobility instructors and service animal trainers from agencies throughout the Authority’s service area.

Over the past 30 years SEPTA has invested over a billion dollars to make its vehicles, facilities, and services accessible to and usable by all riders,” said Lister. “With the recent completion of the Girard Avenue and Spring Garden Stations on the Frankford Line, the Authority now has 100 ADA-accessible stations. The Center is just the most recent example of how SEPTA continues to listen to its passengers with disabilities and works to meet their needs.” To schedule an appointment call 215-580-7145.

WORDS fROM WARREN MONTAGUE

This year SEPTA celebrated 30 years of paratransit service with the opening of its Accessible Travel Center (ATC). What’s the significance of a travel center? It demonstrates just how far we’ve come since 1982 and the direction we are going.

Some of our paratransit customers remember when their only means of transportation was paratransit. Then, a landmark civil rights legislation—the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—changed that. Noting separate but equal was simple not “good enough,” the ADA required all transit agencies to make their fixed route services accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, reserving paratransit service as a safety-net for those who are functionally unable to use accessible bus and light rail vehicles.

Since that time, SEPTA has worked aggressively to make its services accessible. In 2004, all SEPTA buses became 100% accessible. To date, 100 rail stations along the Regional Rail, Market-Frankford Elevated, Broad Street Subway, Norristown High Speed Line and Subway-Surface Trolley lines are accessible. There are elevators throughout the system and an “accessible service hotline” to expedite service concerns.

Transitioning from paratransit to fixed route was not easy for many of our CCT customers, but for those who did, it opened up a world of opportunities. So this edition is dedicated to accessibility and the opportunities that come with it. In addition to the Travel Center, in this issue we include information on Philly’s first accessible taxi cab company, accessible rental vans, mobility products and accessible housing.

We round up this edition with a little information on the ADA and accessibility; a special recognition of our operators and staff who help make travel possible; and a little biography on me, your new Chief Operating Officer.

Enjoy. Warren Montague

MEET WARREN MONTAGUE

Since 1988, Warren Montague has been involved in transportation. He started his career as a Resource Coordinator at Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, where he developed and implemented the Attendant Transportation Program (ATS) for seniors requiring door-through-door paratransit service. In 1993, Warren joined SEPTA CCT as a Service Monitor, where he worked closely with outside contractors providing paratransit services, and quickly moved up the ranks. After overseeing several CCT departments for 15 years, as the Director of Service Operations, last fall Warren became CCT’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for all CCT paratransit services and small bus operations.

“My vision for CCT is for everyone to work in concert: “One Band; One Sound.” “For me,” says Warren, “the Band is comprised of each and every CCT member including the contract staff who maintain and operate the CCT Connect vehicles; the Sound is the music we make when everyone is working together to provide exemplary service to our customers.”

“In addition”, Warren commented, “I want folks to get away from business as usual and innovate. We have to make our new technology work for us, including changing the way we do business. Transportation is vital to our customers and to the community.

Since taking office last fall, I’m starting to see positive change. We still have work to do, but all indicators are pointing in the right direction. I’m excited and I want everyone else to be excited too.”

Twenty-four years and counting…I guess you can say transportation is in his blood.

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Customers can get a feel of the yellow tactile floor and the “gap” everyone negotiates at the simulated rail and subway platform.

Awards Coordinator, Lynn Keehfuss (l.) with Chief Operating Officer, Warren Montague, and Stivers Program Manager, Valerie Jackson

CCT CONNECT CUSTOMERS HONOR

“COMMITMENT TO ExCELLENCE”

The second Thursday in May is a special day for SEPTA operators, CCT Connect operators, and CCT staff. It’s the day set aside each year to recognize those who provided exceptional service to customers with disabilities (and seniors) throughout the previous year. This year’s theme—“Commitment to Excellence”.

Each February ballots go out and staff begins to tally all the commendations received since the last awards ceremony. This year 25 SEPTA operators, 21 CCT Connect operators, and 34 CCT staff were honored at the evening affair. The “Operator of the Year” Awards went to Charles Cochran, a First Transit employee; and Deryck Peeples, a SEPTA employee working out of the Frankford District. In addition, SEPTA’s General Manager, Joe Casey, accepted an award on behalf of the SEPTA staff who contributed to the successful completion of the Accessible Travel Center (story on page 1).

Special thanks and congratulations to all for their continued Commitment to Excellence; and to awards coordinator, Lynn Keehfuss, and awards sponsors, Associated Services for the Blind and SEPTA Advisory Committee for Accessible Services.

SEPTA General Manager, Joe Casey, accepts an award from SAC member, Thaddeus Robinson, in recognition of the work that went into building the Accessible Travel Center

CCT Director of Service Operations, Frank Brandis (l.) stands with CCT Operator of the Year, Charles Cochran, and First Transit General Manager, Chris Schukin

SEPTA Dir. of Administration and Finance, Josh Gottlieb (l.) stands with Frankford District Bus Operator of the Year, Deryck Peeples

THE ADA AND ACCESSIbILITY

The ADA—Americans with Disabilities Act—is a landmark civil rights legislation designed to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else. From its inception to its signing in 1990, those who worked on the law saw transportation as a key feature; because without transportation, people with disabilities could not fully enjoy all the rights that the rest of the population takes for granted.

Thus ADA’s goal for transportation was to make sure people with disabilities had the same access to regular fixed route buses and light rail vehicles as everyone else traveling within the transit system’s service area. Only then can people with disabilities be as independent and spontaneous as their neighbors.

The law also recognized that even if transit is 100% accessible, people with disabilities may encounter some challenges accessing bus service, so they put a safety-net in place—paratransit. For many, paratransit—in the form of feeder service—addresses architectural barriers that may prevent customers with disabilities from traveling to/from and waiting at an accessible bus stop. For those who don’t have the functional ability to use a bus at all, even if all barriers are addressed, transit agencies must provide full paratransit service.

Paratransit service must be made available within an area extending ¾ mile on each side of all regular bus and light rail routes. The law defines regular routes as all routes except commuter, express, shuttle, closed-door or limited-hour bus or light rail service.

Lastly, the ADA charged transit agencies to manage paratransit demand by providing service based solely on the person’s functional skills. Today, more and more transit agencies are doing just that—providing paratransit service as it was designed: as a feeder to connect people to fixed route; and as a safety-net for those few individuals who are functionally unable to use fixed route services for some or all of their transportation needs. For more information on the ADA, visit www.fta.dot.gov.