[gps-talkusers] Lost without GPS

Lost without Gps

By Matt Roberts

Taking buses is a fact of life if you're blind.  You learn how to get to the 
bus stop, which bus to take, where to change buses, and to rely on the bus 
driver to tell you when you have reached the stop.  Up until last year, I had 
done all this without any navigation system for the blind.  I had to rely on a 
sighted person to show me what I needed to know or get information from bus 
drivers or a passerby.  All that changed when I got the Braille Note GPS.  I 
could go anywhere I wanted, when I wanted and didn't have to rely on anyone.  I 
have even learned some routes so well that i don't need GPS at all.  I still 
carry it in case a route I know can't be taken, or if i get lost.
On a Sunday I decided to go to church by bus.  This place is one I have been to 
many times, so I know exactly where it is.  My route is simple take bus 41 to 
Colonial and 436, transfer to bus 28 or 29, and take it to Amelia and Orange 
where I could walk one block to catch the Lymmo.  I have taken this route many 
times, because i go other places on the Lymmo as well.  I set out from my 
apartment and got to the 41 bus stop.  When the bus arrived, I got on and told 
the driver I wanted to get off at Colonial and 436.  Usually, when you tell 
them that, they'll let you off before the corner.  When getting off the bus, 
you walk down the sidewalk until it ends.  You follow the grass until you get  
past the second driveway and the bus stop is right after that.  The driver 
didn't call out the stop where i wanted but I heard the automated announcement 
say, "Highway 436 and east Colonial Drive, Transfer to links 28, 29, and 30." I 
thought that i was where i needed to be so got off the bu
 s.  I walked in the direction where I thought that Colonial Drive would be 
located.  Wrong!!! I had the GPS with me, but I was not running it at that 
time.  Where i was didn't look right so I turn the GPS on.  The GPS information 
told me I was on 436, but near Santarosa.  "Oh, no!!! Colonial Drive is behind 
me.  Where is the bus stop?" I have this bus stop marked as a point of interest 
and set that as my destination.  I started following the GPS.  Not only had I 
gone past Colonial Drive, but I was on the wrong side of the road.  Colonial 
and 436 is the third most dangerous intersection in Florida, but I had to cross 
the street if i was going to catch the bus.  I found the place to cross, waited 
for the traffic on 436 to start moving and ran quickly across colonial, praying 
that no vehicle would hit me.
Arriving at the bus stop, I waited for the 28, because i had missed the 29.  
The other bus that runs in that area is bus 30, and that was the bus that 
arrived.  I can take this bus as far as Colonial and Magnolia, so that's what i 
did.  My plan was to walk from there to Livingston Street and Orange Avenue, 
where I can catch the Lymmo.  I got to the bus stop, got off the bus and began 
walking to Orange Avenue.
On Orange Avenue, I began looking for the Lymmo.  I didn't set that as a 
destination because I knew where it was.  When I got to the Lymmo stop, I 
decided I could probably get there faster if i just walked.  The route that the 
GPS gave me was to just go down Orange Avenue to Pine Street.  Though I got a 
bit disoriented the GPS kept me going in the right direction.  I didn't know 
that there was construction between Central Boulevard and Pine Street on Orange 
Avenue.  No problem, I knew I could get to the church from Central Boulevard if 
I followed it to Magnolia, so that's what I did.  I made it to the church, even 
though I was 8 minutes late for service, but I arrived!
I have had situations in the past where i needed GPS and have decided I knew 
where i was going, so left it at home.  I got lost and had to struggle to get 
myself out of the situation.  That Sunday trip to church would have been one of 
those times.  There was nobody around, and who knows how long it would have 
taken for someone to find me.  That Sunday trip to church was one example why I 
carry GPS with me all the time, because if I get lost I can still get where i 
want to go.

Matt Roberts (blindbiker@xxxxxxxxx)
Member at Large Coordinator Southern Cruisers Riding club
386-566-1386
Text messaging available by going to http://www.t-mobile.com/messaging and 
sending a message to 3865661386.

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