jenett | (Reply)

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First off, please pardon the somewhat lengthy reply. Technology has indeed played a big part in my life. But I've been making a concerted effort to try and get out of my apartment building more, as alluded to in my previous reply to this post. That is also what my support team here wants from me, and I agree with them. However, what my team and I don't totally agree on is the method(s) I'm using to accomplish this mission. I have been an ADA paratransit user off and on for a number of years. In recent years the service in my area has seen some improvements. But I was recently talking with a staff member here about this, and he brought up something which perhaps hadn't been considered by me or anybody else. He mentioned that my requests for door-to-door assistance, i.e., drivers getting out of their vehicles to assist me to said vehicle, are not that common. I have always been a white cane user, and only have light perception. I live in an area with tons of traffic, and the local bus company recently began rolling out hybrid vehicles at least for their paratransit customers. This inandof itself is fine with me, but more often than not I have had difficulty knowing when my rides are here to pick me up. Furthermore, not all of the drivers thus far have gotten out and assisted me. Luckily I can sense shadows, so I've sometimes been able to distinguish the presence of my paratransit vehicle. In addition, I can hear these vehicles beeping when they back up. But not all of the beeping comes from paratransit. Some of it is garbage trucks and other stuff. Sometimes these drivers don't pull up right in front of or beside me for whatever reason, and I therefore need other people with me. Thus far most of these people have been sighted neighbors in my apartment complex. . My mother and I are going to meet with somebody on Thursday about getting an iPhone, and one reason I want an iPhone is the GPS. I think it will assist me perhaps a good deal in this respect. So there's my rant for now, lol! Have a good day folks.