Easter Seals Project ACTION seeks better youth mobility

Earlier today, I blogged about older Americans and livability. Now, as we approach the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I want to thank one of the groups DOT has been working with to make our communities more livable for the 54 million Americans with disabilities.

DOT has been a longtime partner with Easter Seals Project ACTION. And last week, a delegation from Project ACTION visited DOT headquarters to present us with a unique artwork created by local students with disabilities who attend WVSA ARTs connection's ARTiculate Employment Training and Outreach Program.

The artwork illustrates the transportation needs of youth with physical disabilities, and it was created in conjunction with local artist Jude Crannitch, who provided his skills and guidance to the students.

Created by Congress in 1988, Easter Seals Project ACTION promotes cooperation between the transportation industry and the disability community to increase mobility for people with disabilities under the ADA and beyond. For 22 years, they have been working to make accessible and reliable transportation a reality for Americans with disabilities.

And they have done so with Federal Transit Administration support.

We also talked about the October 2009 Easter Seals Project ACTION "Youth with Disabilities Transportation Roundtable. At that roundtable, students with disabilities, career transition specialists, parents, special education teachers, rehabilitation specialists and transportation providers developed a list of actions and resources needed to expand access to transportation services for youth with disabilities. As Easter Seals president James Williams told me:

"For years we've viewed education and employment as integral to a successful transition to independent living in adulthood. But it's transportation that literally links students with disabilities to schools, the workplace, and every other destination in community life. If they don't have access to transportation, independent living becomes impossible, and this list is a road map to improve that access."

Everyone's in this shot but me!

From the roundtable list, Easter Seals Project ACTION crafted five core challenges that need to be solved to increase transportation options for youth with disabilities:

• Share information about transportation resources with youth.
• Train youth to use public transportation.
• Expand limited public transportation service on nights and weekends.
• Include student and school transportation issues in local transportation planning.
• Help planners learn about the family of transportation services, eligibility criteria, and funding streams available.

I know that Easter Seals Project ACTION will continue to shine a light on youth transportation issues. Just as I know they will continue sharing resources to enhance the mobility of America's youth with disabilities.

I'm glad Project ACTION chose to share their artwork with us in thanks for our support over the years. But I think they're the ones doing the heavy lifting on this important issue.

Comments

[Donald Singleton]

Quantico, Maryland 21856
July 5, 2010

Mr. Ray LaHood
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590

Dear Mr. LaHood:

Several weeks ago, I heard you speaking as a guest on a Nation Public Radio program and was astonished to hear you describing the process your agency follows in dealing with consumer complaints about vehicle safety. I am paraphrasing from memory but the notion was something like this: When we receive a sufficient number of complaints then we open an investigation. My reaction to that notion as both a taxpayer and a consumer was something like this: Why are taxpayers funding an agency that does not hold motorized vehicle manufacturers responsible for resolving every consumer complaint involving safety issues?

How do you define “a sufficient number of complaints?” Is that, as with the Toyota debacle, some three dozen corpses? How many unknown dead and injured resulted from the manufacture of defective vehicles on the part of Toyota while your agency dithered? Is it only when a 911 call broadcast to the country by a highly experience driver, a police officer, publicizes the deadly nature of the vehicles that the sufficient-number-of- complaints threshold is met?

As you might surmise I have more than a passing interest in this notion. I bought a new 2009 Honda 750 cc Shadow aero motorcycle outfitted with a windshield, crash bars and a sissy bar from Horner Honda in Salisbury Maryland in August of 2010. While riding the motorcycle home I noted an extreme pounding vibration in the motorcycle at any speed above 55 miles per hour. The vibration was so severe that I could not see the road with any acuity or focus. I took the bike back to the dealer with approximately 100 miles on the odometer and a full tank of gas. I left the bike over the weekend and picked it up the following Tuesday. I was assured in writing by the Owner of the dealership and his mechanic and the salesman who sold me the bike that “It is what it is. And they all ride this way.” The bike had been ridden over a hundred miles over the weekend and the gas tank was empty.” In short the safety complaint was stonewalled by the Horner Honda Dealership. I called customer service in California and they stonewalled as well. They suggested I take the bike to another dealership which I did at some personal expense and that dealership removed the windshield which ameliorated the pounding but did not eliminate the vibration.

I have ridden the bike a little over 2000 miles now and the transmission clatters and clanks in all gears except 5th gear. My fear is that there is a major defect in the bike that neither dealer nor Honda America, Inc. is willing to address and that the bike will seize up at speed causing a catastrophic accident. My guess is that if the bike were torn down for inspection that one would find defective parts or worn or recycled parts. The bike sounds and rides like the running gears have 50,000 miles on them. I rode a Honda motorcycle for years and while I make no claim to being an engineer, I am mechanically inclined and competent. I can attest that this bike appears to be a jury rigged Rube Goldberg contraption. Honda American has exhibited no interest in evaluating this bike and their attitude and the attitude of the dealer is clearly: We have your money so to hell with you and to hell with your safety.

In my view the finger pointing--Honda American at the Dealer, the Dealer at Honda American and the middle finger at the consumer is more than sufficient for you agency to launch an investigation.

It is clear that corporate America has learned over the past ten years that they can stonewall warranty requests, using them only as a bait switch sales tool. I note the Toyota debacle, the BP/Halliburton/TransOceanic its-all-somebody-else’s-fault blowout, and the Wall Street thievery as cases in point.

I reported this safety problem to your agency and was told that the complaint was posted on your web site. A friend of mine commented succinctly: Whoop-tee-do! I have now filed a second safety complaint which was garbled in the posting but which is also on your web site. Double Whoop-tee-doo!

I respectfully request that you take this and all safety issues brought to your attention by the American public seriously and, without excuses, put your boot not on Honda’s neck but where it will really do some good.

Sincerely yours,

Donald L. Singleton, Ph.D.
Ret.

[Michael E. Bailey]

I have disabilities and what Project Action says is so true. Transportation that is good and accessible is what makes independent living programs in our communities successful. The transportation is critical because very few of us drive and it is necessary to connect us with housing, supported employment, medical access. The more transportation is cut back, the more dependent the disability community becomes. Because if you can't get to a community based job or housing--your own apartment or condo--you have to go to a group home or a state school and your day time hours will be confined to a workshop. I think for too long, not only people in the transit industry but disabled people themselves didn't really realize how important good transit systems are for the disability community. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Vanna Schmid]

this is a great blog for those of us interested in alternate means of transportation.

[Cindy]

Being able to get from place to place is something that those of us without disabilities take for granted. Thanks to Project Action for their part in improving the transportation options for the disabled.

[Samantha E. Davis]

I am so glad that organizations like this exist... My school (UTSA) recently cut bus service to my dorm... which leaves me stranded. I cannot afford to buy a new car, and I am afraid that I won't be able to stay at UTSA.

Alternative transportation is a huge help for people like me.

Just wish they would provide it...

[МДФ фасады]

I have disabilities and what Project Action says is so true. Transportation that is good and accessible is what makes independent living programs in our communities successful.