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"Our mission is to support providers
of travel instruction for the purpose of
teaching people with disabilities and seniors
to travel safely and independently."
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IN THIS ISSUE: |
1. ATI Awarded Grant
2. Join/Renew ATI, Register
Now for the July 31–August 2 St. Louis ATI Conference
3. Appointment to the Board
and Upcoming Election of Directors
4. New Freedom Scope
Expanded, Questions and Answers Document Updated
5. Advocate for “Complete Streets”
6. Marketing the St. Louis ATI Conference
7. Forward this Newsletter |
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ATI AWARDED GRANT
On May 14th, president
Terry Moakley received a letter from the American Public
Transportation Association (APTA), stating that ATI’s application
for one of APTA’s Local Transit Coalition Grants has been approved
in the amount of $3,000.00.
Our grant proposal sought funds to put together a short DVD that
shows the benefits of travel training; an accompanying ATI pamphlet;
and, a marketing effort about these tools to the public
transportation industry. This is ATI’s first-ever competitive grant,
and we will need the help of our members to fulfill it. While we
have not received the APTA Grant Guidelines yet, if you are a member
with travel training video footage, please consider letting your
organization utilize it for this grant by contacting an ATI Board of
Directors member by
CLICKING HERE. |
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JOIN/RENEW ATI, REGISTER NOW FOR THE JULY 31-AUGUST 2 ST. LOUIS ATI
CONFERENCE
Our Ninth Annual
Conference is fast approaching. All 2008-2009 paid ATI members
should have received their Conference Registration packet in the
mail by now.
The packet includes: a one-page conference
information sheet; a one-page conference Registration Form; a
one-page 2009-2010 Membership Form; a one-page Jack Gorelick Award
information sheet; a two-page ATI Scholarships and Grants
explanation sheet and application form; and, a two-page St. Louis
ATI Conference Preliminary Agenda. New this year is that you can
become an ATI member and register for the conference ONLINE, as well
as through the mail. So, don’t put it off any longer, and
CLICK HERE for all of the
above information on the ATI website. Also, you must call the Crowne
Plaza Hotel Downtown St. Louis at (314) 621-8200 BEFORE JULY 6TH to
get the $111.00 per night special ATI Conference room rate. |
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APPOINTMENT TO THE
BOARD AND UPCOMING ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
We are pleased to
announce that, with majority approval of the ATI Board of Directors,
the president has appointed Jonathan Rubell, Mobility Services
Manager at The Kennedy Center in Trumbull, Connecticut, to the Board
of Directors.
Please join other Board members in congratulating Jon on his
selection. Speaking of the Board of Directors, as is ATI’s annual
procedure, election of five (5) directors will take place at the
Annual Meeting of the organization on July 31st at the St. Louis
conference. Your organization urges Individual and Organizational
members to seriously consider running for one of these director
positions. Paid-up members will receive written notification of the
Annual Meeting and Elections thirty (30) days prior to this meeting,
but you can put your “hat in the ring” right now by e-mailing your
intention to run for a director slot to current president Terry
Moakley at
tmoakley@unitedspinal.org. |
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NEW FREEDOM SCOPE
EXPANDED, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS DOCUMENT UPDATED
On April 29th, the
Federal Transit Administration published in the Federal Register a
new policy statement that expands the type of projects it considers
“beyond the ADA.”
This action makes more
projects eligible for New Freedom funding.
CLICK HERE
to read this brief regulatory change. On the same day, the FTA also
updated its Questions and Answers: Elderly Individuals and
Individuals with Disabilities (Section 5310), JARC & New Freedom
Programs document, which can be reviewed by
CLICKING HERE. Remember, travel training and mobility management
services are “eligible activities” for funding under the New Freedom
grant program. |
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ADVOCATE FOR "COMPLETE
STREETS"
In March, The
Complete Streets Act of 2009, H.R. 1443 in the House and S. 584 in
the Senate, was introduced.
It would require state
and local governments to adopt laws/policies with a broader focus
beyond vehicle traffic that includes the safety of all users, such
as pedestrians, people with disabilities, bicyclists, public
transportation users, etc. The proposed bills also authorize the
U.S. Access Board to develop accessibility standards for new or
altered streets. In a U.S. Access Board newsletter, it is noted that
the Board already has issued draft design guidelines for public
rights-of-way which include access features for street and sidewalk
construction and alteration, and that these design guidelines should
be followed now for such projects.
Readers can obtain copies of H.R. 1443 and S. 584 at the Library of
Congress website,
http://thomas.loc.gov/.
To retrieve copies of public
rights-of-way draft design guidelines, go to
www.access-board.gov/recovery/. |
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MARKETING THE ST. LOUIS
ATI CONFERENCE
To state it simply,
marketing of our conference is ongoing, but we have some very good
placements of our conference press release.
CLICK HERE to read the press release. The Community
Transportation Association of America (CTAA) posted an announcement
of our conference on their website “Events” page. The Iowa Public
Transit Association forwarded our announcement to all of their
members, and similar associations in Missouri and Florida wrote ATI
that they, too, would inform their respective memberships of our
conference. Disaboom.com, a relatively new but pretty big disability
website, also posted our release on their site. Last but not the
least, our friends at Easter Seals Project ACTION placed an
announcement of our conference in the Partners section of their
website Homepage. We thank all of these entities for their
assistance, and we ask all ATI members and friends to continue
spreading the word about the St. Louis conference. |
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FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER
Know other travel trainers who are
not ATI members, or other persons simply interested in ATI’s
mission?
If so, please forward this issue
to them. Help ATI build our membership and attract new sponsors! |
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P.O. Box 2042 - Madison Square Station
- New York, NY 10159 |
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