FRONT COVER
Access in Motion 2009 Calendar
The MBTA is striving to become the global benchmark for accessible public transportation—a system
that is safe, dependable and inclusive, thereby expanding the transportation options available to all our customers including those customers with disabilities.
Photo:
A customer who is blind, a customer who uses a wheeled mobility device and a 3rd customer waits for an approaching Red Line train at South Station.
JANUARY 2009
The MBTA’s Newest Department:
Department of System-Wide Accessibility (SWA)
Under the leadership of Assistant General Manager Gary Talbot, SWA supports all MBTA departments and works with transportation stakeholders; i.e., other agencies, organizations and communities, to enable the MBTA to improve programs and services offered to persons with disabilities.
Photo:
Group photo of MBTA Department of System-Wide Accessibility staff at North Station, with a few customers boarding an Orange Line train in background.
SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1
New Year’s Day / 2 / 3
4
World Braille* Day / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17
18 / 19
Martin
Luther King Jr. Day / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24
25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31
* Louis Braille developed a form of writing that used raised dots to encode a message. The writing system, published in 1829, has become the most widely used form of writing for the blind.
FEBRUARY 2009
Subway Vehicle/Platform Gap Reduction Project
A number of initiatives are underway to improve access to the MBTA’s Subway system including reducing the gap between the platform surface and the train floor.
Tracks and Platforms
The MBTA System-Wide Maintenance Improvements (SMI) and Safety departments are surveying all tracks and platforms in an effort to improve alignment. In addition, the Operations Directorate is evaluating all rail cars and rail car suspensions for possible adjustments that may further enhance accessibility or reduce gaps.
New Rail Vehicle Procurement Effort
MBTA Vehicle Engineering is exploring a vehicle-based solution that would minimize or eliminate the platform/train gap with the next generation of subway cars.
Bridge Plate Program
As an interim solution to platform/train gaps, MBTA Subway employees use a portable bridge plate to span the gap at boarding and destination points for customers using wheeled mobility devices.
Photo:
Two MBTA employees use a special measuring device to determine platform surface/train floor gap at Orange Line station.
SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
Lincoln’s Birthday / 13 / 14
Valentine’s Day
15 / 16
President’s Day / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21
22
Washington’s Birthday / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28
• AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
MARCH 2009
MBTA Rail Vehicle Design – the Next Generation
Persons with disabilities have been recruited to participate in the MBTA’s efforts to develop the accessibility specifications for the next generation of Subway rail cars. Committee members include: MBTA System-Wide Accessibility and representatives from the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL); the Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA (AACT); Boston Self-Help; the Riders Oversight Committee (ROC); and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.
Photo 1:
Seven Rail Vehicle Design Ad-hoc Committee members sit around a conference table discussing specifications for new MBTA vehicles.
Photo 2:
Current Red Line train at station platform.
Photo 3:
Current Orange Line train approaching station.
Photo 4:
Current Green Line train in station with customers boarding.
MARCH 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
8
Daylight
Savings Time
Begins / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14
15 / 16 / 17
St. Patrick’s Day / 18 / 19 / 20
First Day of Spring / 21
22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28
29 / 30 / 31
• National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
• Brain Injury Awareness Month
• National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
APRIL 2009
On April 10, 2006 the MBTA and the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) Signed a Landmark Settlement Agreement:
“…This agreement is based on a shared vision between plaintiffs and the MBTA to make the MBTA a model transit system accessible to all. There is a mutual commitment and desire to comply not only with the letter but also the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the complete understanding that all people with disabilities must have every opportunity to be fully participating members of our community and that fundamental to this opportunity is the right and ability to use public transportation in an equal, effective, and dignified manner.”
MBTA General Manager
Daniel A. Grabauskas:
“It has been my pleasure over these past three years to work with BCIL, Greater Boston Legal Services, Independent Monitor Judge Patrick King and our newly formed Department of System-Wide Accessibility on the implementation phase of our landmark agreement to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities to all MBTA programs and services. I’m proud of our accomplishments to date, especially in the areas of elevator reliability, employee training, and performance monitoring.
The MBTA remains committed to reaching full compliance as soon as possible with all Agreement items including: improved wayfinding, customer complaint processing, emergency evacuation policies and procedures, and platform/train gap solutions.”
Photo:
Representative plaintiffs, MBTA officials, ASL interpreter and others at South Station press event to announce signing of MBTA/Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) Settlement Agreement.
SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4
5
Palm Sunday / 6 / 7
World Health Day / 8 / 9
Passover / 10
MBTA/BCIL
Settlement Agreement Signed.
Good Friday / 11
12
Easter Sunday / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18
19 / 20
Patriot’s Day / 21 / 22
Administrative
Professionals Day / 23 / 24 / 25
26 / 27 / 28
Section 504* Signed
1977 / 29 / 30
*Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, signed by HEW Secretary Joseph Califano on
April 28, 1977
MAY 2009
MBTA Operations Employee Re-Certification Training
The MBTA’s new accessibility-related training programs for Bus Operators and Subway Customer Service Agents (CSAs) and other Subway personnel continue in 2009 with classroom and hands-on modules that focus on assisting customers with disabilities; wheeled mobility device securement; service animal awareness; lift, ramp and bridge plate use, and more.
Photo 1:
MBTA Subway Instructor observes train crew member at Red Line Station put bridgeplate in place to span the train floor/platform surface gap.
Photo 2:
In outdoor bus yard MBTA Bus Instructor teaches three Operators how to deploy ramp located at front door of bus.
MAY 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2
3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
10
Mother’s Day / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16
17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23
24 / 25
Memorial Day / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
31
• National Stroke Awareness Month
• National Arthritis Month
• National Mental Health Month
JUNE 2009
MBTA Elevator Service Improvements
MBTA elevator reliability has been in the high 90th percentile for the past two years, and almost 100% for the past year due to a new elevator maintenance contract signed by General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas, which changed the T's focus from elevator repair to preventative maintenance. Not bad for the nation's first subway system!
Major projects to replace older elevators and install redundant elevators in select stations, using our new elevator design specifications, are underway to ensure continued reliability and improved customer access into and out of the MBTA Subway system. Oftentimes a working elevator is the difference between an accessible or non-accessible station for many, many users including: seniors, moms and dads with strollers, travelers with luggage, and customers with disabilities.
Photo:
Customer who uses a wheelchair exits elevator at lobby level of MBTA Subway station.
JUNE 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13
14
Flag Day / 15 / 16 / 17
Bunker Hill Day / 18 / 19 / 20
21
Father’s Day;
First Day of
Summer / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27
28 / 29 / 30
• National Aphasia Awareness Month
• National Scleroderma Awareness Month
JULY 2009
MBTA Internal Monitoring Program
To improve MBTA customer service, monitors from MBTA System-Wide Accessibility are riding buses, trains and the subway, observing employee compliance with accessibility-related policies and procedures. Monitors check items such as pulling over to curb; deployment of ramps/lifts/bridge plates; boarding procedures; customer assistance; securement and stop announcements. Results will be tabulated using state-of-the-art Scantron technology. Reports generated using the scanned data will demonstrate the MBTA’s customer service performance to date including areas of operation that need improvement.
Photo 1:
Imaging scanner and desktop computer with specialized software used to produce and read monitoring forms in the MBTA’s Internal Monitoring Program.
Photo 2:
A team of monitors boards an MBTA bus; one monitor using a wheelchair is positioned on front door bus ramp, a 2nd monitor follows.
JULY 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Independence Day
5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11
12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18
19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25
26
Americans with Disabilities Act
Signed 1990 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31
AUGUST 2009
MBTA Strengthens Accessibility-Related Complaint Process
Two management oversight teams have been activated to work with System-Wide Accessibility (SWA) to ensure that accessibility-related complaints logged through the MBTA’s Customer Support Services Center (CSSC) are quickly investigated and appropriately resolved:
• The Department of Organizational Diversity and Civil Rights (ODCR) Civil Rights
Investigation Unit, and
• Operations Directorate Oversight Team made up of the four Subway line chiefs and three selected managers within Bus Operations.
Help the MBTA ensure that the complaint process is working correctly by contacting 617-222-3200,
1-800-392-6100, 617-222-5146 (TTY) to log a complaint if necessary. Your feedback is critical!
Photo 1:
Group photo of MBTA Operations management team responsible for accessibility-related
complaint oversight.
Photo 2:
MBTA Customer Support Services Center Representative seated in office cubicle uses hands-free telephone headset to assist customer.
AUGUST 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1
2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
9 / 10 / 11 / 12
ABA* passes 1968 / 13 / 14 / 15
16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22
First Day of Ramadan
23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29
30 / 31
* The Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968; (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.)
SEPTEMBER 2009
Advances in MBTA Station, Vehicle and Web Communication
Important transit information is being shared in both visual and audio formats as the MBTA works to improve vehicle, station and web communication for all customers.
All recent and new vehicles include dual-mode public address/visual messaging systems (PAVMS), which provide visual and audible stop/station announcements, door opening information and customer service messages.
Announcements within the MBTA Subway system are being upgraded as well with the installation of new PAVMS equipment.
While the T’s enhanced Customer Support Services Center (CSSC) provides verbal transit updates and travel information to customers in 9 languages, the T’s website (with an improved “Accessibility at the T” section on the way) displays the same information visually on your computer screen or wireless hand-held device.
Photo 1:
Overhead visual message board above Red Line station platform announces train arrival.
Photo 2:
Female customer uses a wireless, hand-held device to obtain MBTA service updates.
SEPTEMBER 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
6 / 7
Labor Day / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
13
Grandparents’ Day / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19
Rosh Hashanah
20 / 21 / 22
First Day of
Autumn / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26
U.S. Access Board*
1973
27 / 28
Yom Kippur / 29 / 30
• Sept. 20–26 Deaf Awareness Week (DAW), in commemoration of the first World Congress of the Deaf held in 1951
* U.S. Access Board was created when the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was enacted (Public Law 93-112), September 26, 1973
OCTOBER 2009
MBTA Wayfinding Improvement Program
Finding your way through the nation’s 5th largest transit system will get easier over the next 5 years
due to an extensive initiative to improve MBTA station signage. The multi-phase project includes new print/Braille/tactile station identification signs, directional signs, system maps, and tactile/Braille maps depicting station layout.
Photo 1:
Prototype print identification sign for Alewife Station on the MBTA Red Line with directional arrows and symbols for accessible exit, bus connections and parking.
Photo 2:
Customer reading prototype tactile/Braille map indicating station layout including direction/location of elevator, escalator, platform edge.
OCTOBER 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3
4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
11 / 12
Columbus Day / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17
18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24
25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31
Halloween
• National Brain Injury Awareness Month • National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• National Disability Employment Awareness Month • National Downs Syndrome Awareness Month
NOVEMBER 2009
MBTA Emergency Evacuation Project
An interdepartmental effort is underway at the MBTA to enhance policies and procedures regarding the emergency evacuation of customers with disabilities.
The project team is evaluating solutions such as evacuation chairs for use on vehicles, in stations and T office buildings; and motorized carts that can be deployed within station tunnels.
Photo:
Two people carry a person secured in an evacuation chair down the stairs at the end of Commuter Rail train.
NOVEMBER 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1
Daylight
Savings
Time Ends / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
8 / 9 / 10 / 11
Veteran’s Day / 12 / 13 / 14
15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21
22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26
Thanksgiving Day / 27 / 28
29 / 30
• Alzheimer’s Disease Month
• American Diabetes Month
• National Epilepsy Awareness Month
DECEMBER 2009
Improved MBTA Station Accessibility
Work continues to make the entire MBTA accessible to all customers. During 2009 construction projects were completed at the Longwood, Brookline Village and Boston College Green Line surface stops with accessibility improvements such as raised platforms, tactile platform warning edges, improved lighting, new track crossings, ramps/mini-high platforms and mobile lifts. In the Subway system extensive accessibility-related projects, which include new elevators, escalators, and raised platforms, are scheduled for completion in 2009 at the Arlington and Kenmore Green Line stations, as well as at Maverick Station on the Blue Line. Ongoing accessibility-related construction projects at Copley (Green Line), Ashmont (Red Line), and State (Blue/Orange Lines) are scheduled for completion in 2010.
Photo 1:
Schematic drawing depicts outside view of reconstructed MBTA Red Line station.
Photo 2:
Photo of same station in the midst of construction with steel beams and wood pallets on ground.
DECEMBER 2009SUN / MON / TUE / WED / THURS / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
6 / 7
Pearl Harbor Day / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
First Day of Hanukkah
13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19
20 / 21
First Day of Winter / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25
Christmas Day / 26
Kwanzaa
Begins
27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31
Person With Disabilities
Terminology Guide
Do not use or say…
Birth defect: congenital defect, deformity
Do use or say…
Person with a disability since birth, person who has a congenital disability.
Do not use or say…
Blind (The): visually impaired (The)
Do use or say…
Person who is blind, person with a visual impairment.
Do not use or say…
Confined to a wheelchair: wheelchair-bound
Do use or say…
Person who uses a wheelchair. A wheelchair is
a means to get around independently; it is not “confining.”
Do not use or say…
Cripple: crippled, lame
Do use or say…
Person with a disability, person with a mobility impairment, person who has arthritis, a spinal cord injury, etc.
Person With Disabilities Terminology Guide, Continued
Do not use or say…
Mentally Retarded: moron, imbecile, retarded, mongoloid
Do use or say…
Person with an intellectual disability.
One can say “a person with Down's Syndrome,” only if relevant to the story.
Do not use or say…
Normal
Do use or say…
Person who is not disabled. “Normal” is only acceptable in reference to statistics, e.g., "The norm."
Do not use or say…
Physically Challenged: differently able
Do use or say…
Person with a disability.
Do not use or say…
Suffers from: afflicted by, victim of
Do use or say…
Person with a disability, person who has cerebral palsy. Having a disability is not synonymous with suffering. A person with a disability is not a “victim.”
Person With Disabilities Terminology Guide, Continued
Do not use or say…
Deaf-mute: deaf, dumb
Do use or say…
Person who is deaf. Culturally, linguistically deaf people (that is, sign language users) are properly identified as "The Deaf" (upper-case "d"). People who do not use sign language are properly referred to as "The deaf" (lower-case "d") or "people who are deaf."
Do not use or say…
Hard of hearing (The): hearing impaired (The)
Do use or say…
Person who is hard of hearing. These individuals are not deaf and may compensate for a hearing loss with an amplification device or system.
Do not use or say…
Handicapped (The)
Do use or say…
Person with a disability, unless referring to an environmental or attitudinal barrier. In such instances, "person who is handicapped by" is appropriate.
Do not use or say…
Handicapped parking, bathrooms
Do use or say…
Accessible parking, accessible bathrooms.
Person With Disabilities Terminology Guide, Continued
Do not use or say…
Insane: lunatic, maniac, psycho, mental patient, schizophrenic
Do use or say…
Persons with a mental health disability, person who has schizophrenia, person who has depression.
It is important to remember that the development of appropriate terminology is still in progress; however, the above terms are currently in use. Obviously, words such as "crazy," "demented," "deviant," "loony," "mad," and "nuts" should never be used. The term "insane" should only be used in a strictly legal sense.
BACK COVER
Governor Patrick Signs Bus Stop Bill Improving bus access and safety for all customers
Massachusetts citizens who rely on public transportation are rejoicing over the passage of House Bill 4524, which is designed to improve access and safety at all bus stops. The bill, which was signed into law by Governor Deval L. Patrick on January 7, 2009, increases the penalty to $100 for vehicles that are illegally parked in public bus stops throughout the state. It is hoped the statewide parking fine increase will send a strong message that bus stops are for buses only and not to be used by private or commercial vehicles.
While the new law increases the fine for illegally parked vehicles, the goal of the law is to change the behavior of drivers throughout the state, thereby ensuring that bus stops are open and available for the bus to pull to the curb and allow passengers to board and exit the vehicle safely. In addition, the bill improves the enforcement capabilities of the state Regional Transit Authorities and local municipalities by streamlining the ticketing/citation process.