Resolution 2015-04 Regarding the Maryland Transit Administration, BaltimoreLink

WHEREAS, Governor Larry Hogan has announced $135 million in targeted investments to transform and improve transit throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area; and

WHEREAS, the multi-phase plan will create an interconnected transit system, known as BaltimoreLink, and will include redesigning the entire local and express bus systems throughout Baltimore; and

WHEREAS, a major component of the BaltimoreLink system is CityLink – 12 new, high-frequency, color-coded bus routes that will improve reliability and better connect riders to Amtrak, Commuter Bus, Light RailLink, MARC Train, Metro SubwayLink and other services in Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs; and

WHEREAS, the new CityLink buses will be specially branded and travel on color-coded routes with easy-to-read signage and detailed maps intended to make the system easier to use; and

WHEREAS, the Governor’s plan will provide more people access to 745,000 jobs through an interconnected transit system; and

WHEREAS, the Maryland Transit Administration claims that over 130,000 more jobs will be accessible via high-frequency transit compared to the existing network, that 205,000 more people will have access to high-frequency transit compared to the existing network, and that 30,000 more people will have access to transit by increasing the service area by approximately 18 square miles; and

WHEREAS, blind residents often rely on public transportation to travel to and from work, to patronize area restaurants, to access shopping and entertainment venues, or for other purposes; and

WHEREAS, public transportation systems in other major metropolitan areas around the nation (such as TriMet in Portland, Oregon, King County Metro in Seattle, and WMATA in Washington, DC) provide to blind passengers detailed information including where the bus stop is located in relation to the cross street (near side, mid-block or far side), and what amenities are at the stop (shelters, trash cans, poles, etc.) as well as signage which is accessible to blind passengers: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this fifteenth day of November, 2015, in the city of Ocean City, Maryland, that this organization urge the Maryland Transit Administration to take steps to insure that all easy-to-read signage and detailed maps intended to make the system easier to use will also be accessible to blind passengers at the same time they are made available to all other passengers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Maryland Transit Administration to work with the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland to train operators regarding the appropriate way to assist blind passengers if asked: such as how to describe where the bus is in relation to an intersection, and to announce stops manually if the automated stop announcement system is not functioning.