Travel trainers aid disabled people in learning transportation routes

From The Plain Dealer in Cleveland:

There's a Laketran bus stop in front of Mary Ricketti's (pictured) Willoughby apartment building, but she never used it.

Instead, for more than 20 years, the mentally disabled woman has called Laketran to schedule door-to-door service because she was unsure about how to take a regular bus to her destination.

She knows now. Julia Schick (pictured) showed her.

Schick is Laketran's travel trainer, a job relatively new to transit agencies. Trainers help the elderly and people with disabilities become less dependent on dial-a-ride services by learning how to navigate fixed bus routes.

"People think because they have a disability they don't have the right to do things independently," said Shanices Chambers-Robinson, travel trainer for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. "They feel intimidated, scared or just give up."

Ricketti, 47, recently rode a bus to Wal-Mart in Eastlake with Schick. On Wednesday they went to the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor.

"If I could ride a route bus I'd have more freedom," said Ricketti as she double-checked with Schick to make sure she was catching the correct bus and had a fare card. "I depend on Laketran for everything."

Chambers-Robinson and Schick acknowledge that some people with severe disabilities may not be able to walk to a bus stop or from the bus to their destination. But the travel trainers say many current dial-a-ride passengers could gain more freedom by riding a route bus instead of having to schedule their trips at least a day in advance.

Travel trainers spend hours with their clients to overcome fears of not catching the right bus, getting lost and not knowing who to ask for help.

Schick has helped Ricketti become so confident about riding a bus that as they rode home from the mall, Ricketti mentioned other places she would like to go -- downtown Willoughby and her mother's house in Wickliffe.

Some social service agencies, such as the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, have provided travel trainer services for decades, generally to help clients use public transit to get to work.

Transit agencies began hiring travel trainers after the Federal Transit Administration started its New Freedom program in 2008 and offered grants for agencies to provide transportation services beyond those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Schick, who had worked in community outreach with Laketran since 2005, developed the first travel trainer program in the area. Transit agencies in Cuyahoga, Portage and Summit counties have included elements in their programs. Trainers from the four agencies meet regularly to share ideas and coordinate travel across county lines.

Individuals must be referred to travel trainers through the transit customer service center, county social service agencies or other agencies.

The client sets goals on where and when he or she would like to travel. The trainer then conducts a physical and mental assessment to see if the person can ride a regular bus. If a route fits their needs, the trainer makes sure there are no physical barriers that would prevent the rider from getting to the bus stop or from the bus to the destination.

The trainer and client thoroughly discuss all aspects of the trip, including the need to carry identification and emergency phone numbers, bring a water bottle if it is hot, how to be safe and how to trust the bus driver.

The trainer goes with the person on as many trips as necessary until he or she feels comfortable enough to travel alone. The trainer may later "shadow" clients to make sure they travel safely.

In 2009, Schick helped 26 individuals and 310 youths and adults in classes. Chambers-Robinson, who started her program in the spring of 2009, has helped 107 people in group and individual training. She has 70 on a waiting list and RTA recently hired a second travel trainer with a New Freedom grant.

Last winter, Chambers-Robinson offered six half- or full-day sessions for students with behavioral and other disabilities to several middle and high schools. That program is expanding this fall to other districts, including Cleveland.

After the last session, the students plan a trip. A class from Educational Alternatives in Strongsville went to Westfield SouthPark Mall for lunch, which required a bus transfer, Chambers-Robinson said.

"The students loved it," she said. "It was a celebration of everything they had learned."

Many of the students at the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Brecksville who took Chambers-Robinson's class this year had never been on a bus, said Loreen Dorin, assistant principal for special needs.

"To have an awareness of how to travel safely on public transportation is a great opportunity," she said.