According to Cheryl Gable, Harford County’s mobility trainer, Sparks is just one of more than 115 people who have learned to use the bus system through the You Can Ride travel training program.
To meet Sparks’ transportation needs, Gable reduced three of the county’s ten bus route schedules to three manageable documents with specific pick-up and drop-off times. The first schedule takes her to her doctor in Havre de Grace. The second schedule takes her to the Bel Air and Joppa areas, where she goes to the gym, dentist and library. The third schedule takes her to the Harford Mall, a doctor’s office and Wal-Mart.
“We’ll get her a fourth to go to Harford Community College to swim. Then, she’s independent. She can do the whole Harford County circuit,” said Gable, who also rides with clients to locate bus stops and potential safety hazards along the way to their final destinations.
Brian Parks, a student in Harford County Public School’s Future Link Post-secondary Program, turned a volunteer position into a summer job at the Bull on the Beach restaurant in Campus Hills, but lacked transportation to get there. Gable created a schedule for Parks and rode along with him to ensure he knew where to get on and off the bus.
“I have the best job. Watching my clients change their lives because they have transportation. It’s awesome, it really is,” Gable said.
Funded by a Maryland State Department of Education grant and administered by the County Department of Community Services, You Can Ride provides individualized assistance to give people with disabilities access to jobs, medical appointments and shopping.
Program outgrows grant
Michael Hannan, administrator of Harford Transit, said the county’s transit program operates two systems, both of which are accessible to disabled persons. Fixed routes are in place for everyone to use while para-transit buses target people with disabilities who cannot use fixed routes.
“We found a lot of disabled people just need a little help to use the fixed routes, so we developed You Can Ride,” Hannan said. “It’s a very successful program, but we can only reach only one or two people at a time.”
Through Train the Trainer, volunteers learn to use the transportation system so they, in turn, can help others gain the freedom to go and do that is so easily taken for granted. People in need of assistance include the elderly who can no longer drive, students without a car and the county’s disabled population.
According to Community Services Director Mary F. Chance, Train the Trainer curriculum is designed to train agency and program staff, support group members and faith-based organization leaders to teach individuals and small groups to use Harford Transit fixed bus routes. Topics include basic information about the system, hours and fares, reading a bus schedule, making transfers, planning trips and preparing individual itineraries.
Among those already trained include staff from Upper Chesapeake Health, the Office of the Public Defender, Open Doors Career Center, Harford County Department of Social Services, Harford County Health Department and the Office on Aging.
Hannan added, “With gas going up everyday and BRAC coming, Train the Trainer gives us more bang for the buck to get more people on public transit.”
To learn more, contact Gable at (410) 612-1742. |
