Saipan Launches Improved Paratransit System, Looks to Establish New Transportation Services

Contributed by Thomas J. Camacho, Special Assistant for Public Transportation and Chairman for the Commonwealth Public Transportation Advisory Board

Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

In 2003, a group from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, participated in

ESPA’s Mobility Planning Services Institute. In 2011, after years of advocacy, CNMI established its first transportation office, the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority. Thomas J. Camacho, a member of the CNMI team that participated at the MPS Institute, recently wrote to ESPA about their upcoming launch of an improved paratransit system and other ways in which they are enhancing transportation services in the community.

Under the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority (COTA) and COTA management and operations, we are launching our new and improved paratransit system, AKA the Call-a-Ride Saipan service, on May 29^th.

Currently, we've selected a transportation consulting firm to conduct our Saipan Fixed-Flex Route and ParaTransit System Feasibility Study. Within four to five months from now, COTA will have completed this study with plans to launch its first-ever Saipan fixed-flex route service (possibly four accessible mini-buses and installation of up to 40 bus stop shelters) to be complemented by the ADA paratransit service or Call-a-Ride Saipan. Eventually, COTA will bid out the Saipan fixed-flex route and paratransit service to a third-party contractor.

We are also close to bidding out the Saipan-Tinian Island Ferry Boat Feasibility Study and in six to seven months from now, this study will be completed, and we are hoping it will suggest that a passenger/auto ferry boat system is a viable operation between the island of Saipan and Tinian. COTA will stand ready to implement the recommendations of this study from applying for transit grants to build or acquire ferry boat(s), build terminal facilities and have operation assistance.

Lastly, we are gearing up to establish the first ever One-Call/One-Click Transportation Information, Resource & Referral Service Center which will be equipped with the latest transportation management software; design/build COTA's new Administration Building; and design and convert an existing warehouse into COTA's Vehicle Maintenance, Repair and Storage Facility. 

Our local public lands department designated a good size piece of public land property to COTA for its new building and maintenance facility. We are very excited about these upcoming services and projects so we can be a part of improving quality of life for our citizens. These projects are funded under COTA's Veterans Transportation & Community Living Initiative II grant.

For more information on the work that CNMI has accomplished in accessible transportation, download the Mobility Planning Services Retrospective in PDF, Word, or read the blog posting, from September 2011.

Ask the Expert: Beverly Morris, Planning and Eligibility Officer, New York City Transit

1.   Tell us a little about being a planning and eligibility officer for New York City Transit

I am the Planning and Eligibility Officer for the Paratransit Division of NYC Transit.  The Paratransit Division is responsible for operating the agency’s ADA paratransit service called Access-A-Ride (AAR).  My section is responsible for determining eligibility for ADA paratransit service in NYC.  As the service planning officer, my section is also responsible for conducting customer satisfaction market research, service demand forecasting, special operating analysis, statistical reporting, including the submission of the FTA National Transit Database report and developing paratransit service policies and operating procedures.

2.    What modes of transportation does NYC Transit offer?

NYCT operates subway and fixed route bus service, and of course, ADA paratransit service.  All of our fixed route buses are wheelchair accessible and a total of 80 subway stations are ADA accessible and an additional 19 are accessible.

3.    Do people with disabilities often take one mode to another, such as taking paratransit to a bus line?

Yes, we provide feeder service to transport our conditionally eligible customers from AAR service to our regular fixed-route bus service.  At the time the AAR leg of the feeder trip is reserved the customer is given the name/number of the bus route and the location of the bus stop.

4.    Are there any accessibility features of which transit agencies should be aware to help people with disabilities that transfer from one mode to another, such as from paratransit to the fixed route or from a bus line to the subway system?

Priority should be given to designing and procuring vehicles with proper wheelchair securements.  It is also important that vehicle operators call out stops for persons with a visual impairment as well as new riders who may not be familiar with their stop.   We have found that environmental and architectural barriers sometimes prohibit an otherwise capable customer from intermodal travel. Accessible bus stops and shelters encourage passengers with disabilities to use buses more frequently.

5.    How does NYCT typically communicate information about services including what transportation options are available?

Every activity and special event is posted on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (our parent agency) website.  Additionally, we communicate via targeted outreach sessions in the community, distributing brochures and seat drops (information bulletins placed on the customer seats within our vehicles).

6.    What advice can you give to people who are considering trying a new mode, such as a bus line for a portion of their trip?

With the implementation of ADA paratransit service many transit agencies have established travel training and bus usage familiarization programs to help people with disabilities wanting to use regular fixed route service.  Prospective customers should check the transit agency’s website to get information on such programs.  In addition, many communities have hired mobility managers to assist prospective customers on their various transportation options.  Lastly, for any beginners, I recommend that the customer contact the transit agency’s customer information telephone center to get specific information (routes and timetables) about bus service in their community.

Ask the Expert: Meagan Greathouse, Mobility Specialist, METRO Regional Transit Authority in Akron, Ohio

1. As a mobility manager, what work do you do with schools?

I provide travel training and travel instruction with schools, which is customized to that particular group depending on what they request. We ideally like to spend at least three days with a school.

The first day we will go into the classroom for a presentation that typically lasts approximately two hours. We discuss who we are, what METRO does, basic bus information and the difference between a METRO bus, a school bus and a regular vehicle on the road.  Our program is operated out of the Customer Services Department, so we like to present materials in as many different ways as we can.  This can include bringing in bus stop signs, brochures, “how to” sheets and bus schedules for the area in which we are teaching.  After talking, the class will watch a METRO DVD, which we leave for the class.  The videos further explain the areas we have covered.  Individual travel training information is also given out should a parent/guardian requests more in-depth one-on-one training outside of school.  Should the teacher want more focus on schedule reading, we provide a session complete with an exercise worksheet, completed as a group.

During the second visit, an out-of-service bus is brought to the school so the students can see in person what they have learned in the classroom. I don’t believe a person can truly learn the knowledge he has attained until it is put to use.  Starting with the outside of the bus, students learn how to use the wheelchair ramp and bike rack. Boarding the bus, we show them how to use the fare box. When seated, they see where the mobility devices are properly secured, how to use a stop request cord, proper bus etiquette and rules, as well as safety on and off the bus because safety is the main focus of our program. We also have the operator take us for a short ride so students can feel what it’s like to be in a moving bus. This may be a new experience for the students as well as the teachers; the majority of the people that we work with in class have never been on a public bus.

During the third visit, we take the class on a field trip to our Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center. The trip starts with teaching pedestrian skills needed to access the bus stop.  This again gives us a chance to emphasize safety in all facets of their trip.  We the ride the actual route necessary to get to our destination, which is an eye-opening experience for many. Once at the transit center, we will give a tour, including where buses pull in, our security office, the customer services area, and where Greyhound and other transit authorities are located. This also gives the students a chance to see the inner workings of our environmentally-friendly facility. We will then have lunch in the Community Room and take a return trip back to the school.

Additional visits to the school may be held should they be requested. Additional visits may include assistance with field trips, learning how to access our website and trip planner, or a refresher course.

 2.  How do you reach out to the schools?

We attempt to reach schools through transition programs.  We have worked with all types of schools and classes throughout Summit County as well as many agencies. Throughout my time with METRO, I have seen an increased demand for knowledge and information about public transportation and word of mouth is probably our greatest tool in reaching a large segment of our community.  My coworker, Nicole, and I also attend many school and community events.  We provide travel training information on our website and through many other community resources.

 3.  Why is it important for a transit agency and school district to have these connections?

When I talk to groups, sometimes I talk about my life before METRO and life with METRO. Prior to METRO, I had never been on a bus and knew very little about public transportation. Because of this, I’m able to relate to the passengers when they have all this new information given to them at once.

I will always remember something my boss told me when we first developed our travel training program—a person cannot truly be an equal member of their community if she doesn’t have a way to get around. Many people take transportation for granted.

It is extremely important for a transit agency to be active in the community; the community supports us. A person may not need us today, but he may need us tomorrow. He may need us for a few days or may become a lifetime rider. I am supportive of the schools as the students are our future riders. It is rewarding to have developed such solid relationships with the schools and other groups we serve. On a personal level, at the end of the day I feel like I accomplished something and made a difference with someone.

4.  How has being able to use more than one mode of transportation—both a school bus and a public fixed-route bus system—affected the students? What have you heard from the students themselves?

Using the school bus and the public fixed-route system are extremely different from each other, which is why we address this during training. The students are surprised to hear that other cars on the road do not have to pull over for public buses like they do school buses, among other things, which is why safety is such the largest part of training. I believe that having access to a school bus and the public fixed-route bus system gives the students choices, flexibility and, most importantly to us, it gives them independence. The school bus may not be available due to hours or staff constraints and is only for school-approved use. This is where public transit comes in as another option for the students to take field trips or to use outside of school. However, if a fixed-route line is not in service when the student would need it, the school bus could be an option. We teach students to look ahead and have a “Plan B”. While working with one school, we were able to do a trip but would have been unable to return to school in time on the line-service bus. So we put our heads together and the teacher arranged to have the kids go back to school on the school bus.  This way the students had the opportunity to go on the trip but also be able to have the experience of riding a public bus. This was great collaborative thinking and an integral part of our travel training program.

 5.  What advice do you have for school systems that are considering working with a mobility specialist to help their student learn how to use different modes of transportation?

Some people may be hesitant about riding public transit. Even with supervision, we have to remember that it may be a hard decision for some parents and educators to put their children or students on the bus.  For some, this experience can be overwhelming and intimidating. However, highlighting safety as the number one priority of training may help to alleviate some of these concerns. 

Students will learn pedestrian safety, stranger awareness and other life necessary skills during this training. By teaching these essential skills in our travel training program the student may become more well-rounded.  These skills may include socialization skills, time concepts, as well as money management.

Being proficient in various modes of transportation broadens the area a person can access.  We believe that our program gives students a perfect blend of safety and independence as a first step to becoming an equal member of their community.

ESPA Welcomes Carol Wright as Senior Director

Contributed by Mary A. Leary

As Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) continues to support accessible transportation for the 26th year, we stay firmly grounded in our mission yet look to the current and future needs of cities and towns across the country. Finding and keeping talented team members is one way we maintain our high productivity, passion for making a difference and achievement of stellar results. Like many other organizations today, we also go through periods of transitions and changes in program leadership. After five years of leading the day-to-day operations of ESPA, I have assumed additional responsibilities in Easter Seals which necessitate a change in how we manage the ESPA program. I am launching an innovation initiative to help Easter Seals find new ways to provide services and assistance that leverage movements such as brain health, the intersection between health and transportation, healthcare reform and care transitions, and many others. I will continue to manage Easter Seals Transportation Group but will transition day-to-day program management responsibilities as I start up the innovation team at Easter Seals as vice president for business innovation and advancement.



Carol Wright,
Senior Director for Accessible
Transportation Programs

So, I am truly pleased to announce that we have found and hired a talented leader to manage ESPA—Carol  Wright, formerly the associate director of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) at North Dakota State University. Before working at SURTC, Wright held positions in human services transportation and aging and disability services. She has expertise in many areas of transportation including emergency preparedness. She is a trainer, a curriculum developer, a presenter, and an experienced manager. With her background and relaxed-yet-focused approach, Wright will provide superb leadership for ESPA's technical assistance and outreach activities. With her guidance, ESPA will continue to build coalitions based on goals shared by the disability and transit communities.

Since joining the United We Ride team in 2004, I have had the distinct honor and privilege to meet and work with many wonderful partners and people. Thank you for your support over the last five years, and I know I can count on your continued support for our new senior director of ESPA, Carol Wright. Our team has grown so much as has our level of program activities. We will begin posting our major accomplishments for last year soon, and I hope you take a moment to read them. As we go forward, please do not hesitate to email me or Wright if we can answer any questions of be of assistance. Above all, we are here to serve.

And on a final note, I am also pleased to share that Dr. Cheryl Irmiter has joined our new business innovation and advancement team at Easter Seals as the assistant vice president of innovation solutions. Over the last four years while at the American Medical Association, Irmiter worked with me and our ESPA staff to help us in our charge to expand awareness regarding the importance of access to transportation for a person's health and wellness. As Irmiter helps us build out an even stronger connection with clinicians and medical professionals, we will continue our relationship-building efforts in this important area.  

Students’ Glogs Showcase Accessible Transportation Options

After graduating from high school, students move from relying on yellow school buses to get around to using a variety of transportation options, including fixed-route buses, subway systems, taxis, bicycles, and personal automobiles. For students with disabilities and many other students who may not have the use of a car or may not drive, public transportation will become the link to an independent adult life as they pursue higher education or seek employment.  

To enhance awareness about public transportation options for students with and without disabilities, Easter Seals Project ACTION developed the Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program. The main goal of this pilot program was to support school districts in implementing projects for all students regardless of their abilities in order to build leadership skills and increase students’ knowledge of various aspects of accessible transportation services in their local communities. Four school districts took part in the program: Crestview Local Schools in Convoy, Ohio; Bay District Schools in Florida; Stow Munroe Falls Local School District in Stow, Ohio; and Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas.  

One part of Stow Munroe Falls Local School District’s project is now posted online in a fun, multi-media format. Students from Stow met with Summit County Metro Transportation to discuss needs and learn about present transportation options. They then developed graphical blogs, or glogs, as a way to depict what they learned about transportation in their community.  Check out the glogs created by Team Jacob or Team Ryan online, or see a screenshot of Team Ryan’s glog to the left.  

By learning about transportation options together, students help each other become more confident in transitioning from riding yellow school buses to using the transit options available in their communities. As one of the school project directors noted, ESPA’s Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning program “makes people realize that there are many options available and that transportation can’t be a barrier to mobility and independence.” For more information on the Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program, download ESPA’s new report, Initial Impact Evaluation of the Easter Seals Project ACTION Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program.

Ask the Expert: Marshall C. BurnsMobility Coordinator for the Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority

When did you start using the fixed-route bus system?

Growing up, I lived on a ranch in a small town that was not near any bus lines. I moved to Austin in middle school, and they had fixed-route bus services that I used from time to time to get to trainings and other things. I knew I’d need to go to college in either a small town that I could walk around in or a place with a decent bus system. When I moved to Corpus Christi to go to college, I was two and half hours from anyone I knew. I noticed the bus system [the Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority (RTA)] and knew I need to live in close proximity to campus so I wouldn’t have to travel too far. I started using the fixed-route for the majority of my trips in 2005. Post college, I still live in Corpus Christi and now work at the Corpus Christi RTA.

How often do you use it, and where do you take it?

I use the fixed-route bus system to get to work, the grocery store and running daily errands. Being someone with a disability that keeps me from driving, you’ve got to keep all of your mobility options open. The fixed route may not be the best choice for a certain trip, but the majority of the time it can be and will work. I try to use the fixed-route as much as possible. I do not use paratransit, not because I’m not eligible, but because I prefer to use fixed-route services.

Has using the fixed route affected your life, including decisions about where to live or work?

It really has. When I first moved here, I knew I needed to live in a place close to the college campus and centrally located. Even though I then lived close to campus, I still had to transfer buses and had a 15 minute layover. So what should have been a ten minute trip turned into about a 25 minute trip. After my lease was up at that apartment, I decided to find something on another bus route to make my trips shorter. In my small home town, my transportation is “whoever has time to drive me to town for something.” The independence that I have in Corpus Christi isn’t there. When I’m visiting home, I can’t wait to get back to my Corpus Christi, where I can easily go to the store or get a haircut or do whatever I want to, no problem. So transit has certainly affected where I live.

As far as work goes, it’s coincidental that I now work at Corpus Christi RTA. I had been using the system pretty frequently and joined RTA’s Committee on Accessible Transportation (RCAT). The membership includes people with disabilities and people who work in the disability field. They help advise the board and RTA staff on decisions regarding routes, route changes, vehicles that RTA procures, etc., to make sure RTA is making routes as accessible as possible. I started at RTA as a travel trainer, and now, in addition to travel training, I work with RTA to make sure new things we implement will be accessible, such as our website. I also provide operator training.

I enjoy travel training because the only thing my disability limits is my ability to drive. I live independently on my own, and when I started using public transit that limitation was narrowed and wasn’t as big of a deal. My favorite thing with travel training is to show others that your independence can be reached. You just have to understand your public transit options, whether you use paratransit or fixed route or both.

What’s important to you regarding customer service?

One time, a friend who also has a visual impairment and I were getting on a bus. My friend uses a service animal, so we sat in the priority seating area for people with disabilities because it’s easier for the dog to sit there sideways. The bus only had two wheelchair securements, which were in the priority seats. At one stop, two people with wheelchairs wanted to board. If we stayed in our seats, they wouldn’t have been able get on. The driver was trying to figure out what to do, and I suggested to the driver that my friend and I move to some seats in the back where the dog would still not block the aisle. The driver spoke to the people who were in those back seats, everyone happily accommodated the move so that we could move and the people with wheelchairs could board. This was a great, because the driver could have said “I’m full” and taken off. The driver wanted to make sure he was able to accommodate everyone he possibly could on that bus.

Any advice for people considering using a fixed-route system?

It looks scary when you first start, and you may get lost your first time (I did). The one thing to remember is that if you get on that bus, it’s going to go around to where you caught it the first time. The operators and other passengers are going to be your best resources―they’ll help you out. Look into if the center for independent living in your city or your transit provider has travel training services, or become close with your transit provider. Fixed route services are a viable way to gain your independence, to become educated, to get a job and retain that employment, to go out in your community and have fun and enjoy the entertainment features that your community has to offer without being on such a restricted schedule.

If you are looking for a place to live, see what bus stops are close to it and try to find a place in close proximity to a bus stop. If the transit provider has a committee for people with disabilities that advises the transit provider on ways to increase accessibility, try to get on the committee. If they don’t have one, encourage them to start one. The transit provider can be very receptive. A lot of times things may not be accessible not because the transit provider doesn’t want the system to be accessible but because they may not be aware of the issue. It’s our job as people with disabilities to provide that education.

ESPA Releases New Report --The Participation of Human Services Organizations in Mobility Management: Results of a Rapid Response Survey to Human Services Organizations and United We Ride Ambassadors

ESPA is pleased to release results from the ESPA Mobility Management Rapid Response Study, in which we sought to understand the participation of human services organizations in mobility management. Prepared for ESPA by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the study helps identify gaps and uncovers the knowledge level of human service professionals regarding mobility management. 

Two survey instruments were developed to solicit input from human services professionals and United We Ride (UWR) Ambassadors. The human services professional survey was designed for a wide range of professionals representing different human service agencies and organizations on both the state and national level. The second survey was designed specifically for the UWR Ambassadors who provide states and territories with hands-on technical assistance in the development and implementation of coordinated human service transportation. Follow-up interviews were also conducted with the UWR Ambassadors.

The results of the study demonstrated the areas in which human service agencies are already involved and ways that they can become more involved in mobility management. When asked to select the kinds of activities in their work that related to mobility management, the human service participants mostly frequently responded “collaborate with other organizations and agencies” (63%). Almost half (48.2%) of respondents indicated that they served on committees and advisory groups and encouraged stakeholders to participate in mobility management.

Figure 3: Type of Work Related to Mobility Management

In addition, almost 60% of respondents were interested in becoming more involved in national mobility management activities. For the full results of the study, download the report The Participation of Human Services Organizations in Mobility Management for free from ESPA’s website.