CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSIONS

COMMUNICATION NEEDS

Issues that were found to be common to transit passengers with disabilities included:

• Obtaining pretravel information on such essentials as routes, schedules, and fares;
• Obtaining information from transit operators at bus stops, stations and terminals, or on route;
• Understanding information from announcements made in stations and on vehicles;
• Receiving information that is typically presented visually;
• The level of assistance provided to passengers with disabilities by transit staff; and
• Making passengers more familiar with their travel environment.

These issues are of concern to all passengers and relate to information access, signage, and training.

•  Information Access

All active and potential transit passengers require access to information concerning their trip. This information should be made available in a variety of media that will meet the needs of all passengers and in particular those with disabilities.

     Route maps, schedules, and fare information need to be made available in a format(s) other than print for those passengers with visual impairments. Likewise, messages announced over the public address system should be provided as an alternative for passengers with hearing impairments. Whenever possible, audio messages should supplement visual information and visual information should supplement audio messages. Other information should be provided with the consideration of the complex characteristics of riders related to levels of understanding, language, and familiarity with the system, in addition to levels of disability.

•  Signage

The signage provided at stops, stations, terminals, and in vehicles needs to be accessible to all passengers, regardless of the type of disability. Signs should be standardized in font, text, color, size, and location. In general, they should be of light color on a contrasting dark/black background, with large print in a simple font, and be situated along the pathway. Other instructional assistance should be provided for passengers with perceptual or cognitive disabilities.

•  Training

Training is an issue for transit operators both from the perspective of staff sensitivity and passenger familiarity with the system. Passenger orientation and training programs assist riders and potential riders in becoming better-informed and independent travelers. Orientation and mobility training helps riders become familiar with their travel environments, including obtaining transit information; identifying bus stops, stations, and landmarks; and operating equipment such as fare and transfer machines.

     Sensitivity training for transit staff assists operators and other front line staff on how to better identify persons with different disabilities and provide them with the required assistance.

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Numerous technologies are currently available to specifically address the communication needs of persons with disabilities.

•  Advanced Technologies

Advanced technologies such as smart cards have the potential to be of significant assistance in improving passenger independence. Such technologies have a universal appeal and, in addition to the general population, they can provide significant assistance to passengers with disabilities, seniors, and persons whose first language is not English. With little additional cost these technologies can help make transit systems more user friendly, simplify the fare system for passengers, and at the same time provide transit agencies with information regarding passenger travel patterns.

     More research is needed in the application of smart technologies in ways that can further assist persons with disabilities, including their use in fare payments, opening doors, and activating announcements.

•  Visual Technologies

Systems that use LED/LCD technology or computer screens provide a significant benefit to all passengers and are particularly useful to the hearing impaired. These technologies can provide way-finding as well as critical real-time information. These technologies have also assisted transit agencies in complying with ADA requirements of announcing stops at major intersections. Such systems can be more reliable than manual systems, which require the operator to remember to call out stop-related information.

•  Auditory Technologies

Auditory technologies provide a variety of options in which important information can be easily provided to passengers. This is particularly useful to passengers who are visually impaired, where such technologies as Talking Signs, talking directories, auditory maps, and audible alarms can significantly improve their traveling experience. Auditory technologies can also assist transit operators in complying with ADA-related requirements such as stop announcements at major intersections. Some transit agencies have begun to hear complaints from passengers about these features. In some instances, frequent riders without disabilities have indicated that they find the practice of calling out stops both annoying and disruptive.

•  Tactile Technologies

Tactile technologies such as tactile maps, tactile pathways, and detectable warnings provide significant benefits to passengers with visual disabilities. Such technologies must be considered in conjunction with their impact on persons with other types of disabilities to significantly improve the safety of the traveling environment for all passengers.

•  Cellular (Wireless) Technologies

Given the technological advancements in wireless technologies, such as personal cellular phones and pagers, measures need to be taken to determine the feasibility of using this technology to provide real-time information to transit passengers. In addition, the cell phone could more effectively replace or complement existing technology by using a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal. Personal cell phones are potentially more cost-effective and they offer many features, such as two-way communication and answering services. Most importantly, a significant percentage of the population now owns a cellular phone.

OPERATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

•  Universality

In an environment that encourages the use of private transportation, public transit agencies are cognizant of the need to promote the use of transit to all of the traveling public at every opportunity. Transit administrators must continually assess the impact that various technologies, primarily those designed to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, will have on the general riding public. Several of the features noted here are beneficial to the overall rider population because they present no obstacles to able-bodied riders but, by embracing technologies that appeal to the senses of sight, sound, and touch, promote a user-friendly atmosphere that complements and enhances overall public transit use. In most cases, a successful approach when implementing communication techniques and technologies to aid the disabled, is to address the universal benefits to all passengers first and then ensure that the specific needs of those with disabilities are specifically incorporated. For example, enhanced audio and visual communications (such as electronic LED/LCD signage and synthesized voice annunciation) are of specific benefit to persons with auditory and visual impairments. However, these devices also serve persons with cognitive impairments and seniors, who may also be experiencing a reduction in hearing or perception as a result of the aging process.

     Special features, such as the induction line or tactile pathways, which are incorporated into the design of bus and rail station platforms at several transit authority facilities, provide specific guides for individuals with visual impairments. These guides enable those riders to travel unassisted. To a lesser extent, persons using wheelchairs can use the induction line system to access bus stops on station platforms.

     Tactile pathways also benefit persons using wheelchairs, providing alignment relative to train door openings on station platforms. In addition, pathways play an important role as a delineation tool to teach the very young, such as school children, and seniors to identify areas on platforms at both rail and bus facilities where caution should be exercised.

     The above-noted technologies present a clear benefit to able-bodied riders who can make use of the several "assist features" offered by the transit agencies to navigate the system.

•  Proactive Versus Reactive Response to Improving Methods of Communication

Information obtained from the survey respondents suggests that a large number of transit agencies are actively responding to communication issues involving persons with disabilities. Their reaction is typically driven by complaints from transit users or groups representing the interests of persons with disabilities or by federal regulations. However, those agencies that are proactive in responding to the needs of persons with disabilities also demonstrated the most advancement in the implementation of communication technologies.

     All transit agencies were aware of and are taking the necessary steps to comply with the legislation that requires them to improve access for persons with disabilities. However, few transit agencies had recorded plans to improve or expand their methods of communication, primarily because passengers have not requested any change nor have they complained about the current system.

•  Cost of Technologies

There is very little information provided in the literature on the cost of communication technologies or techniques, because such costs are a function of development. It is therefore essential that transit agencies give particular consideration to total cost factors when considering the introduction of new technologies. For example, although some of the "in-ground" technologies associated with transit facilities such as tactile pathways have identifiable costs from being part of bid items, other technologies have costs that vary with their degree of sophistication. Thus, it is imperative that implementation of new technology include consideration of capital costs as well as recognizing ongoing expenditures associated with long-term maintenance, staff training, and upgrading.

•  Obtaining Customer Input

Several of the survey respondents indicated that it would be more productive if persons with disabilities were asked to comment on the communication methods available to them for their transit trip. In the literature, there is very little information that would suggest passenger experience and input were sought. This is not to say that transit agencies do not seek input from the disability community when making provisions in stations for persons with disabilities. AC Transit, for example, recently sought input from the AC Transit Accessibility Advisory Committee, the BART Accessibility Task Force, the Living Skills Centre and nondisabled observers when assessing tactile pathway options for inclusion in AC Transit's Cerrito Plaza BART Station.

     Although several agencies have sought advice from other interest groups for inclusion in their transit service design and operation, more research is required on how to obtain the input of persons with disabilities and on how to use that input in the application of new technology in a transit system.

•  Budgetary Considerations

The research has shown that those transit agencies with the most progressive and comprehensive communication technologies that benefit persons with disabilities did not specifically identify communication technologies as a line item in their budgets. Conversely, agencies that identified specific budgets for communication technologies did not demonstrate a significant degree of success in implementing accessible communication features, because they were not provided sufficient funds.

•  Cost Effectiveness

All technologies available to transit agencies that are designed to improve communication with persons with disabilities have cost implications, be it capital, operating, or both. Therefore, it is imperative that transit management, when considering the introduction of new technologies, evaluate the full impact of the equipment throughout their operation, including the entire customer base, to ensure that the maximum cost-effectiveness is achieved systemwide.

     Transit agencies, in delivering transit services, must fulfill the ADA requirements of making public transit accessible to all. The cost-effectiveness of the communication technology or techniques must be measured relative to the benefits of all riders, not just those with identified disabilities.

     The research into communications equipment suggests that the marketplace abounds with devices and strategies, which entail varying levels of sophistication, designed to accommodate or address some segment of the needs of the riding public. Thus, the dilemma facing transit agencies is one of selecting the most appropriate technology to satisfy the primary travel requirements of persons with disabilities and, at the same time, also benefit the general riding public.

     For these reasons, transit agencies must examine the full range of assistive devices that are available, knowing the characteristics/demographics of their riders and, from that information base, select equipment that provides the most effective financial investment for the transit system as a whole.