“Time-Travel” A Multifaceted Approach to Trip Planning Erin Foley, M.A., COMS Faith Dunham-Sims, M.A., COMS Required Pre-Skills Can your student… ● Learn and travel a route independently ● Use cardinal directions ● Reverse a route ● Problem solve independently ● Complete street crossings safely ● Scan at driveways and intersections ● Create and utilize route notes Concepts ● Time - how long it takes to walk to the bus stop or ride the bus to a destination ● Sequencing ● Do they have a sense of preparedness? ● Do they understand when a situation is or becomes unsafe? ○ Do they know what to do if this happens? ● What happens when something goes wrong with their route or plan? ● Can they backward plan for development of time table? Your student is not a machine... ● Psychological/Emotional Considerations ○ Are they emotionally ready for complex routes ■ capable vs. comfortable ○ Do they have confidence in their abilities ○ Is their family on board with them traveling in the community independently ○ Recovered from past negative experiences ○ Any other barriers LACTOA / Disabled / Medicare TAP Card and EZ Transit Monthly Pass ● Does your student have one? ● You can apply for one at your local participating transit agency or by mail. ● Fill out the application ● Bring ID and $2 ● Don’t forget to attach a pretty picture ● Applications for cards are available online at Metro Customer Centers or by calling 866-TAPTOGO (827-8646). Participating Transit Agencies ● Review all the participating transit agencies your student can use their TAP/EZ Transit Pass on... Antelope Valley Transportation Authority Long Beach Transit Beach Cities Transit Metro Bus & Metro Rail Burbank Local Transit Montebello Bus Lines Carson Circuit Monterey Park Spirit Bus City of Commerce Norwalk Transit Culver City Municipal Bus Lines Pasadena ARTS Shuttle Foothill Transit PV Transit Gardena Municipal Bus Lines Santa Clarita Transit Glendale Beeline Santa Fe Springs MetroExp. Huntington Park COMBI` Santa Monica Big Blue Bus LADOT (Dash & Commuter) Torrance Transit LAX FlyAway And 2 more by end of 2014 Introduce Bus Travel Does your student have any bus riding knowledge or experience? If so, complete a bus evaluation and assess their skills. If not, get them some experience then assess their skills. Bus Travel Continued Does your student know how to… ● Find the appropriate bus stop and identify it as the bus stop they need ● Use NextBus or call 511 with the correct stop ID for arrival information ● Identify the arriving bus as the bus they need ● Determine how often the bus comes Bus Travel continued Can your student… ○ Locate the doors and board the bus safely ○ Locate the fare box/TAP pad and pay their fare ○ Ask the driver to call their stop or identify the correct stop by another means ○ Find a seat ○ Off board at the correct stop ○ Have a method for keeping track of where they are while en route What If? ○ They get off the bus and discover that they have forgotten their route notes What Happens if They Miss Their Bus Stop? ● Can they… ○ Identify that they have gotten off at the wrong stop ○ Identify if they have gone too far or not far enough ● Strategies ○ Get off at the next stop and walk back- if close. ○ Ride to the end of the line and back again. ○ Get off at the next stop and cross over to the reverse direction- take the bus back ○ Don't lose the bus stop ○ Go to a transfer point Introduce METRO Rail Give your student a detailed overview of the METRO Rail System and/or other transit agencies. Introduce METRO Rail continued ● Lines ○ Light Rail ○ Heavy Rail/Subway (Red/Purple) ● Stations - manned or not ● Start points ● End points ● Where is home ● Transfer stations ● Fares ● General safety METRO Rail Station Orientation Make sure your student can… ● Get from the inbound bus stop to the station ● Get from the station to the outbound bus stop ● Understand the layout of the station ○ one or more entrances/exits ● Access the station agent and understands their purpose ● Navigate the concourse level ○ escalators, stairs, elevators ● Get onto the correct platform ● Find the car doors: domes / listens METRO Rail: Purchasing a Ticket Teach your student how to... ● Add money or passes to their TAP card... ○ at a ticket vending machine at a Metro Rail or Metro Orange Line station (are headphones required?) ○ online at taptogo.net (allow 48 hours for fare to load) ○ by phone 1.866.TAPTOGO (48 hour load time) ○ Day passes can be loaded when boarding, just ask the driver ● Purchase a TAP card if they forget theirs ● Use their TAP card at the fare gates ● Determine an in vs. out fare gate Platform Safety ● “Cars” vs. “Trains” ● Crawl space ● Electric third rail ● Mind the gap ● Let passengers exit the train before you enter ● If no seats are available use handrails and hanging nylon straps ● Do not leave personal items unattended ● Know your surroundings: put the phone down Riding METRO Rail Once you’re on the train……. ● Locate accessible seating ○ Clear before sitting ● Multiple doors per car ● Are there doors on either end of the car to travel between cars or openings ○ Call boxes and fire extinguishers located near these doors ● Be aware of your surroundings especially when the car doors are open Other Transit Agencies Repeat the steps for Metro familiarization with other transit agencies like Metrolink and Amtrak. Now Onto the Actual Trip Planning The major ways to complete the trip planning process: ● By phone ● Online ● Using an app ● Receive and utilize directions from others Trip Planning by Phone ● Before calling 511 or the appropriate transit agency directly the student will need to know… ○ business name ○ business address ○ cross street ○ phone number ○ the starting and ending locations ■ (address / intersection / landmark) ○ the day and time of travel ○ a method for taking notes Trip Planning by Phone Continued ● While on the phone your student will need to gather the following information: ○ bus number ■ is there a transfer required ○ get on bus at (location and time) ■ do you know where you transfer bus stop is ○ get off bus at (location and time) ○ special notes ○ May need to ask several questions ● Don’t forget to plan the return route! Online There are several ways to trip plan online: ● Go511 ● Google Transit ● Metro ● Amtrak ● Other Agencies’ websites ● Get someone else to do it :-) Trip planning with 511 ● What can be entered for start/end points ○ Address - 5855 W Century Blvd, LA, CA 90012 ○ Intersection - West Century Blvd. & Bellanca Ave. ○ Landmark - Little Tokyo, LA ● Do you want to leave at a certain time or arrive at your destination by a certain time? ○ will you be traveling on a weekend or a weekday ■ most transit agencies have different schedules for weekdays and weekends 511 Continued ● Other options ○ Preferences ■ type of route ■ type of fare ■ maximum walking distance ○ Advanced Options ■ walking speed ■ modes of transit ■ include and/or exclude agencies ■ it goes on and on 511 Continued ● It is important to make sure your student understands how to interpret and use all of this information. Trip Planning with Google Transit www.google.com/transit ● Enter in the starting location ○ Address - 5855 W Century Blvd, LA, CA 90012 ○ Intersection - West Century Blvd. & Bellanca Ave. ○ Landmark - Little Tokyo, LA ● Enter in a destination ● Pick your transit mode ○ Bus - Subway - Train - Combination ● Pick your style ○ Best route - Least walking - Fewer transfers ● Hit enter or click and the search begins Google Transit continued Once you’ve hit enter... ● The website will give you some “Suggested routes” ○ look at the options carefully ○ do you recognize a local bus route or transit station? ○ look at the modes of transit the options give you; do they make sense? ○ look at the times each route will take you to travel ● Your student should pick the best route based on their knowledge and skills Google Transit Continued Once you’ve picked a route… ● Click on the chosen route: it will highlight blue ● Scroll down past the other options to “Transit Directions to... (insert destination here)” ● You can click on each direction section and a popup will appear on the map ● Click on the “walk” directions to expand the field and receive more information ● Zoom in on the map to discover street crossings and more by following the lines Can Your Student Utilize the Map? Discovering the area... Comparing Your Options It is always a good idea to try trip planning using the various methods...phone or online as well as utilizing the different websites... 511.org and Google Transit as you may wind up with different options or conflicting information. The use of Technology ● Using basic magnification on your internet browser = ctl + ● Magic ● JAWS ● ZoomText ● NVDA = a free screen reader ● and many more Utilizing JAWS with Google Transit ● Open JAWS: ctrl + alt + j ● Press the Windows key to enter the menu ● Press “i” for internet explorer and enter to select it ● Press alt + d to enter the browser bar ● Type in your address: www.google. com/transit and press enter to begin the search ● Press “e” to get to the edit field box ● Press Spacebar to enter the edit field box Here’s what you’ll see... JAWS Continued ● Type in your start location ● Tab to get to the next edit field and type in your destination ● Tab 2-3 times to get to the options drop down lists, press spacebar to enter into it and use the arrow keys to make your selection ● Shift + Tab to go back to the button and press enter to select Once you hit enter you will see... Updated version... Once You’ve Hit Enter continued... ● Press “h” to get to “heading level four” ● Use the to navigate through the options.