[gps-talkusers] Re: Lost without GPS

Matt,

Nice real world story about GPS use. You put travel into a very practical 
perspective.
Thanks for taking the time to write this up.
Mike

At 04:53 PM 2/20/2005, you wrote:
>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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