Lynn, I think Charles is right; we should be brave enough to tell people what we cannot *safely* do; especially if, *if*, there's an alternative; transfer points where riders don't have to leave that point, and the planner told me that was possible. And one more thing Lynn; you're playing with other people's lives; just because you're willing to take the chance on crossing a busy intersection every day, should not mean that you argue so that others are also forced to do that. I just talked to a blind person in the last week, who has been blind over 5 years, and does not yet feel confident in independent travel. he is also totally blind, which does make a *big* difference. so, I don't feel bad in asking them to do things differently. I'm not doing a "blackjack" and saying I won't play; not when I'm only asking for a change in design. and it's not just blind people who are effected; it's anyone in a wheel-chair, or anyone who's elderly and may not walk as fast as they once did, or is mobility impaired for any number of reasons. so, I hope you'll think of all these things, and understand I'm asking them to plan for all of these people, not cancel the entire project. thanks for writing and telling us how you feel. Chip -----Original Message----- From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lynn Evans Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 7:21 PM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Re: my object to Nova 2010 You are correct in saying there are no guarantees when it comes to life. it is a crap shoot. A person steps out boldly from the curb of life with the mobility skills we have and takes their chances. You are asking for a guarantee for city services? You mean like the electricity want never go out? The water will never be turned off? The trash will always be picked up? Look at the changes Star Metro has made to their plan so far. We asked for a route description and they gave it to us. Robert asked for the Village Square change and they did that. Let us not do a "Blackjack" here and tell Star metro if they want play by our rules then we will not play,. the intersections where the transfer points are, need to be made as safe as humanly possible for EVERYONE. This is what we need to tell the city commission. It scares me to tell anyone, what I can't do. That puts me in a vulnerable position in their eyes. We need to work with Star Metro or we are going to be left on the curb as the bus passes us by. ----- Original Message ----- From: Easy Talk <mailto:easytalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 2:40 PM Subject: [tabi] Re: my object to Nova 2010 Chip, After much consideration and Soule searching, I am with you 100 percent. I am one who has been hit at an audible crossing. I am certainly for decentralization but more work needs to be done and as Heather said Star Metro does transportation/buses not Sidewalks, Audible signals or Police Safety. They can only educate but it is up to other departments to do there part and so far there are no guarantees. Robert ----- Original Message ----- From: Chip Orange <mailto:Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 11:54 AM Subject: [tabi] my object to Nova 2010 hi all, I spoke with a StarMetro planner yesterday, and he said only 2 intersections of the possible 41 proposed for transfer points, currently have audible signals. (I think Lynn did tell us that). perhaps, just perhaps, they'll be able to add 10, even 20, in the next year, but by no means all of them will get audible signals. the point I made to him, and the one I intend to make to the city commission unless there is a dramatic change in the plan, is that no intersection, even with an audible signal, is safe for a blind person to cross. audible signals only make it somewhat safer, but many of our local blind residents can testify about being hit. I don't think even our best, most skillful, independent travelers, can say that crossing an intersection such as many of those proposed by StarMetro is safe; and, a number of our blind residents do not fall into the class of our "most skillful" independent travelers. I intend to urge the city commission to deny the entire plan until the safety of disable riders can be assured by never requiring a transfer through an intersection; StarMetro has got to be forced to come up with another way to handle transfers. I know others of you have other objections to the plan, and I've heard and agree with a lot of them, but this is to me, the single really good one, which is good enough to warrant the city commission stopping implementation until it is worked out. I do support other objections which have been raised, including the one I just mentioned that with all the bus stops moving to new locations, they are going to be hard to find, and that the routes and the location of stops require a lot of walking at times, which itself is also unsafe. but when I write the commission after the plan is submitted to them, I am only going to focus on the safety issue, as I think it's the most important, and I don't want to overwhelm them in my letter with les important objections. I hope all of you will consider writing to the city commission, but not until the plan has been submitted to them. any letters before then are evidently just forwarded to StarMetro, without engaging the commissioners' attention. thanks. Chip ------------------------------ Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314 (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.) Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI and please make suggestions for new material. if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.