[bscb-l] funding for the T

[Alison]

"I mean, really now...how hard is it for a bus driver or subway motorman to 
announce the stops? It's done that way all over the world, both in the past and now. If a man or woman is entrusted with the responsibility of driving a mass transit vehicle and with the lives of the passengers on that vehicle, surely he/she has got 
the smarts to read off a list of stopos, particularly on a familiar route, but also even on a new one."

Alice, since you have literally never driven a city bus in your life, I don't understand how you know what a driver should and should not be capable of?  Stop assuming the worst about everyone at the MBTA.  They don't hate you, they're not out to get you--they work hard to keep your transportation system running under often difficult circumstances.  You should also note that the new automated stop announcement system also displays the stop visually so it is much more accessible for hearing impaired passengers than the old system.

The situation at Park Street and other stations with excessive fan noise could be solved by better acoustics (very expensive) or new ventilation systems in the stations and on the trains themselves (also very expensive).  Where will the money come from?  Saying "I don't care" is just mean-spirited and unhelpful in the extreme.  Let's find a way to promote public awareness of the value of the MBTA to everyone--like the comment in the interview you referenced, that says people who never take the T still benefit because it reduces traffic congestion if some people are riding mass transit instead.  Let's work with groups like the American Association for Public Transportation on an issue that benefits blind people and sighted people alike--not to mention the environment and lots of other social benefits as well.  Let's stop hating and start working with the MBTA to improve public support for it and thereby get the funds to increase service for everyone.




----- Original Message -----
From: alice dampman humel <alicedh at verizon.net>
To: Bay state (Massachusetts) discussion list <bscb-l at acb.org>
Sent: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:57:35 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [bscb-l] funding for the T

We don't? That's news to me. Maybe you should talk to other 
people and listen more...
    and why are you bringing all these things into what started 
out at least to be a question and discussion about excessive 
noise from all sorts of fans and motors, among other things, on 
the T, a discussion indeed about problems with the MBTA that 
affect us, all riders?
    If you'd like to discuss MCB or the Carroll Center or the 
Braille And Talking Book Library or for that matter the Greek 
economic crisis, the riots in London, the price of peaches in 
China or the debt ceiling, fine. Start that topic, and I'm sure 
many people will find all kinds of things to say, yea and nay. 
But we're talking about the MBTA here and trying to examine and 
perhaps find a solution for a problem that, I repeat, has nothing 
whatsoever to do with whether or not blind people pay that 10 
cents or 25 cents or whatever it is that people with other 
disabilities pay or full fare for that matter, but that does 
indeed compromise the safety of passengers, blind and sighted 
alike. If the T decides to make blind people pay, fine. We'll 
pay. But they obviously don't see a relatively few blind people 
riding the T more or less frequently as a major source of 
revenue. If they did, they'd be on us like white on rice.
    Coincidentally, there was a very interesting interview with 
and report about Davey, the former head of the MBTA who has now 
been appointed as the head of MDOT. Here's the link.
http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/08/11/davey-transportation-secretary
Davey made many interesting points. He mentioned that a fare hike 
had not been implemented in the last 5 years but was coming soon. 
He mentioned that the gasoline tax, also a source of revenue for 
the T, was among the lowest in the nation, right down there with 
Louisiana, not up there with other states with a good mass 
transit system like New York. He mentioned that the T got 
something like 160 million dollars (I may have that number wrong, 
but it was a big number <grin>) last year from the increase in 
the sales tax. He said that sometimes, motorists complain that 
their gas tax or toll or other money goes to support the T when 
they don't ride it, and Davey answered that all those people 
stuck in the daily gridlock parking lot otherwise known as 128 
should be extremely happy if people could be lured to mass 
transit, thus leaving fewer cars on the road.
    Anyhow, he apparently is not looking at the relatively few 
blind people as the next source of major revenue for the T. He 
sees things in better proportion than that.
    I also forgot to mention in my last message that expensive 
(and often unreliable) automated stop announcement technology is 
another one of those unnecessary expenses. I mean, really 
now...how hard is it for a bus driver or subway motorman to 
announce the stops? It's done that way all over the world, both 
in the past and now. If a man or woman is entrusted with the 
responsibility of driving a mass transit vehicle and with the 
lives of the passengers on that vehicle, surely he/she has got 
the smarts to read off a list of stopos, particularly on a 
familiar route, but also even on a new one. IMO, that money would 
be better spent to improve service, not increase the bells and 
whistles, hmmm, quite literally!
Alice

alicedh at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alison" <alison2911 at comcast.net>
To: "Bay state (Massachusetts) discussion list" <bscb-l at acb.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: [bscb-l] funding for the T


...but we never criticize how the Mass Commission for the Blind 
uses its money, and we rarely even bother to criticize the fact 
that the NLS Braille libraries have a policy of sending written 
communications to patrons in PRINT (not braille) most of the 
time.  A lot of people could tell "war stories" about unfairness 
and mismanagement and mistreatment at MCB and the Carroll Center 
and Perkins (both schools make a lot of money from MCB contracts, 
so our lobbying for funding directly benefits them), just as much 
as we can tell bad stories about the MBTA.  But for some reason, 
in spite of all the problems with these "blindness 
organizations," BSCB just obediently asks the State House for 
whatever our MCB friends have told us to ask for.  Why don't we 
stop advocating for MCB every year if we should not advocate for 
funding for any organziation that does not use funds 100% wisely? 
Apparently we think we need MCB so much, we're willing to 
overlook its many shortcomings.  For some r
 eason, the MBTA does not get this benefit of a doubt from us, 
even though many of us get a lot more benefit from the MBTA on a 
daily basis than we do from the Commission or the Carroll Center. 
But for some strange reason, people in BSCB have decided to treat 
the MBTA as though they are the enemy?  This double-standard 
helps nobody and in fact it hurts those of us who use the MBTA 
because BSCB could be doing more to help the situation.


----- Original Message -----
From: alice dampman humel <alicedh at verizon.net>
To: bscb-l at acb.org
Sent: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:30:49 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: [bscb-l] funding for the T

Alison,
    Advocating for better/more funding for the T at the state
house as we do for funding for the Talking Book Library and other
similar things is not a bad idea at all.
    However, and that is the however of "additionally," not
contradiction, there's a flip side to that coin. If the T is not
using the funds it already has wisely and well and for
improvements that benefit the ridership, not their CEO's pockets,
then no matter how much money is thrown at them and the T's
problems and shortcomings, the path of that money will always be
the same. I think the T should get its own current financial
house in order, and use the funds they have, however meager (or
not) they may currently be, more wisely, judiciously, and
effectively. I still believe from all I read, hear, and
experience that there is enormous waste from the point of view of
allegedly the most important segment of this equation, the
ridership, disabled and non-disabled alike, in the way the T is
run.
    As in other political and social arenas, just because I
criticize the T and insist on holding its managers accountable
for how they use the resources they have, with the intent of
working toward improvement, does not mean I do not appreciate the
T and the service and opportunities it provides as much as the
rest of us. I think that should go without saying, but
apparently, there are those in our ranks that equate pointing out
problems and deficiencies as at least one step in fixing or
improving them, with some kind of gross disloyalty.
    And for all those who indignantly insist it's better than
nothing or better than the proverbial poke in the eye, fine. Go
ahead and settle for better than nothing. Those of us who have
experienced better than that know how possible really efficient
and attractive mass transit can very easily be. But if you're
willing to settle, well, you deserve nothing better than "better
than nothing" or even nothing at all.
Take your pick.
Alice
alicedh at verizon.net

_______________________________________________
bscb-l mailing list
bscb-l at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/bscb-l

_______________________________________________
bscb-l mailing list
bscb-l at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/bscb-l 

_______________________________________________
bscb-l mailing list
bscb-l at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/bscb-l