|
"Our mission is to support providers
of travel instruction for the purpose of
teaching people with disabilities and seniors
to travel safely and independently."
|
| |
|
2010-2011 Association of Travel Instruction Officers: |
President
President-elect
Secretary
Treasure |
Mary
Riegelmayer
Peggy Schmidt
Susan Olsson
Rosanne Bopp |
To contact any of
the above ATI Officers or the eight additional ATI Board of
Directors members, please CLICK HERE.
E-news Editor: Terry Moakley E-news Designer: Terry
Massie |
| |
|
IN THIS ISSUE: |
 |
1.
President's Message by Mary Riegelmayer
2.
Membership at an
All-time High
3.
Welcome to Six New Board of Directors Members
4.
Conference
Presentations Available on ATI's Website
5.
U.S. Access Board
Issues Proposed Updated Guidelines for Buses and Vans
6.
Travel Training Article Published in August METRO Magazine
7.
"Topic
Guides on ADA Transportation" Webinar Series Announced
8.
Forward this Newsletter
|
| |
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE BY MARY RIEGELMAYER
I’m
very happy to report to the membership that ATI’s 10th Annual
Professional Development Conference in Baltimore August 13 to 15 was
a huge success, for many reasons.
With 77 attendees, it was one of
our biggest conferences to date, and our conference evaluations
prove that attendees were very satisfied with the quality of the
sessions. Our local keynote and guest speakers were informative and
inspiring, and the audience was enthusiastic throughout the two and
one-half days of presentations. The first-ever showing of our new
video, “Mobility Freedom,” was greeted with loud applause, and
everyone seemed to truly enjoy our Closing Banquet that featured our
fun-filled Annual Raffle. And as you will read further on in this
newsletter, ATI members elected six outstanding colleagues to the
ATI Board of Directors to help keep our organization growing as we
move forward. Thank you to everyone who attended the Baltimore
conference and thank you to all those ATI members, volunteers and
friends who made it possible. |
|
MEMBERSHIP AT AN
ALL-TIME HIGH
The
Association of Travel Instruction has never been as strong an
organization as it is today.
Our membership count for 2010-2011 is
at 130 members, as follows: one Bronze sponsor, 18 Organizational
members, 89 Individual members, nine Auxiliary members and 13
additional members who work for our Bronze sponsor and
Organizational members. In order to assure that ATI has accurate
contact information for all of our members, please contact Karen
Wolf-Branigin, Membership Committee Chair, at
kwolfbranigin@easterseals.com
or 800-659-6428 with your name, organization, job title, United
States Postal Service mailing address, telephone number and email
address. If you are reading this e-news for the first time and you
would like to join ATI,
CLICK HERE to become an Individual,
Organizational or Auxiliary member by either joining online using
our secure PayPal system, or via the mail by filling out our simple
membership form and mailing it back to us with your check or money
order. |
|
WELCOME TO SIX NEW
ATI BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS
At the August 13 Annual
Membership Meeting held at our Baltimore Conference, ATI members
elected six individuals to Board of Directors terms of varying
lengths.
Elected to a three-year term as an ATI Director was Karen
Wolf-Branigin, Director of Training and Technical Assistance at
Easter Seals Project ACTION in Washington, DC. Voted to the Board
for two-year terms were Margaret M. Groce, Supervisor of the Travel
Training Program of the New York City Department of Education, and
Jonathan Rubell, Mobility Services Manager at The Kennedy Center in
Trumbull, CT. And, Sarah Green, Travel Trainer at The Rapid in Grand
Rapids, MI; Louis Hoffman, Travel Instructor for the New Jersey
Travel Independence Program, Livingston, NJ; and Julie Wilcke,
Mobility Manager at Ride Connection/Ride Wise, Portland, OR, were
each elected to a one-year term by the ATI membership. Also, current
Board member Rosanne Bopp of College Point, NY, was elected to the
position of ATI Treasurer by the ATI Board at an August 14th Board
of Directors meeting. Congratulations and good luck to these ATI
leaders. CLICK HERE to view the list of all current ATI Officers and
Directors. |
|
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
AVAILABLE ON ATI'S WEBSITE
If you did not have the opportunity to
attend ATI’s very successful 10th Annual Conference in Baltimore,
not to worry.
CLICK HERE to review PowerPoints and other electronic
formats of presentations delivered there. Examples of presentations
delivered at the conference include how to expand an existing travel
training program to serve an adjacent community; examples of one
travel training program’s documents used to manage its program; the
use of assistive technology in travel training; and, a cost-benefit
model and budget for a travel training service. |
|
U.S. ACCESS BOARD ISSUES
PROPOSED UPDATED GUIDELINES FOR BUSES AND VANS
On July 26th, the United States
Access Board issued proposed guidelines to address new types of
transportation systems, such as bus rapid transit and low-floor
buses, and advances in technology, including automation of
announcements.
The proposal also revises specifications for vehicle
ramps, circulation routes, wheelchair spaces and securement systems.
The Access Board will hold two public hearings on these proposed
revisions, on September 30 in Chicago, IL, and at its Washington, DC
offices on November 8. Organizations/individuals may also submit
written comments on or before November 23.
CLICK HERE for the full
proposal as printed in the Federal Register. |
|
TRAVEL TRAINING ARTICLE
PUBLISHED IN AUGUST METRO MAGAZINE
ATI member Terry Moakley
recently was invited by METRO, a public transportation industry
monthly magazine, to write their “On Paratransit” column for their
August special issue on ADA paratransit service.
The column focuses
on the importance of travel trainers partnering with local public
transportation agencies during ADA paratransit eligibility sessions,
and working with local school transition coordinators to identify
special education students who can benefit from travel training.
Resources mentioned in this column include ATI and Easter Seals
Project ACTION.
CLICK HERE to read the full story. |
|
"TOPIC GUIDES ON ADA
TRANSPORTATION" WEBINAR SERIES ANNOUNCED
The ADA National Network
announces a new seven session webinar series covering the recently
released "Topic Guides on ADA Transportation".
The program is
coordinated by the DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center and the DBTAC-Southwest
ADA Center in collaboration with Project Action and the Disability
Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). Funded by the Federal
Transit Administration to provide technical assistance on
transportation to transit agencies, riders, and advocates, the Topic
Guides bring together the requirements of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Department of Transportation ADA
regulations, FTA determinations, and best operational practices for
ADA compliance. The Topic Guides on ADA Transportation were
developed by DREDF (www.dredf.org)
and TranSystems Corporation (www.transystems.com/).
The guides are available online at
http://www.dredf.org/ADAtg/index.shtml.
The webinar series schedule is the second Tuesday of the month,
beginning October 14, 2010 and ending April 12, 2011, from 2:00 PM
to 3:30 PM Eastern Time (90 minutes) The Topics are: Equipment
Maintenance (Topic Guide 1); Stop Announcements and Route
Identification (Topic Guide 2); Eligibility for ADA Paratransit
(Topic Guide 3); Telephone Hold Time in ADA Paratransit (Topic Guide
4); Origin to Destination Service in ADA Paratransit (Topic Guide
5); On-Time Performance in ADA Paratransit (Topic Guide 6); and,
No-Shows in ADA Paratransit (Topic Guide 7) There is no cost to
register for these webinars. Marilyn Golden, DREDF Policy Analyst,
and invited guests to be announced under separate email will be
webinar presenters. Sessions will be presented via a fully
accessible webinar platform. Instructions for connecting to the
program will be provided to registrants in advance of sessions.
Registration is available online at
www.adaconferences.org. |
|
FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER
Know other travel trainers,
travel instructors, mobility specialists, ADA coordinators, ADA
Paratransit eligibility certifiers, travel buddies, human service
agency transportation staff, school transition coordinators,
independent living center or other disability group transportation
advocates—basically anyone who assists persons with disabilities or
seniors to use public transportation, or who is thinking of starting
any type of travel training service, from short and simple group
familiarization programs to intensive, short-term one-on-one travel
training?
If so, please forward this issue to them. Help ATI
build its membership and attract new sponsors |
|
|
P.O. Box 2042 - Madison Square Station
- New York, NY 10159 |
|