During National Week Without Driving, our Director of Strategic Policy and Practice, Evren Sönmez, had the opportunity to join an Orientation and Mobility training with Orientation and Mobility Specialist Annie Rempe and her student Jazmy Martinez (they/them). The purpose of the training was for Jaz, who is blind, to practice riding the SunTran bus and making a transfer. They met up near Speedway and Grande, rode the bus to Speedway and Stone where they transferred to another one, and took the bus back to starting point. The journey was short, but Evren learned a great deal about some of the barriers blind people experience as they navigate our streets and public transit system.  

Here are five takeaways from the day, that we feel everyone should be aware of:

1. Route number announcements on buses as they approach bus stops as well as “next stop” announcements while riding the bus are helpful for blind people. We witnessed varying announcement volumes on the buses we rode, and one was particularly difficult to hear. Jaz shared that announcement volumes can often be inconsistent; some are quiet and some are turned off. During the training, Jaz also practiced using an app called Moovit and listened to the directions the app provided on their phone. Since the app can sometimes be unreliable, they also let the bus driver know about their final stop as they’re boarding the bus so that the driver can also make an additional announcement when the bus arrives at that stop.   

2. Navigating a large intersection is not easy for anyone, especially the blind. We were only able to make it halfway across the street during the initial pedestrian signal cycle at the intersection of Speedway and Stone. Jaz pointed out that short signal cycles are one of the most challenging aspects of crossing at a big intersection like this one. Annie added that getting stuck in the middle can be scary.  

3. Push buttons that activate pedestrian signals may be hard to locate. At Speedway & Stone, I watched Jaz cross the street, find the push button, and make their way back to the spot where they would cross the other leg of the intersection. It did not look easy. Jaz later shared that the buttons can be in different places depending on the intersection and sometimes, in Jaz’s own words, “they’re in the middle of rocks or on a platform on their own,” making them harder to locate. Also, looking for the button can mess up the person’s alignment requiring them to go back and reorient themselves towards the crosswalk to be able to safely cross the street. While we were on the subject of push buttons, Jaz shared that audible buttons are helpful, although sometimes, “they’re not very loud and cars mask them.”  

4. Bus shelters - and a “universal design” for them - support the mobility and orientation needs of blind people. We had two very different bus stop experiences during our training session. One had a shelter and the other was only a signpost without a shelter or even a bench. Jaz seemed to have a much easier time locating the sheltered bus stop with their cane, but the “stick in the ground” bus stop necessitated a lot more direction for Annie. We later reflected on the many benefits of bus shelters. Clearly, they’re not just good for providing shade and creating a more comfortable experience while waiting for the bus; they also make it easier for blind people to spot the bus stops. Jaz highlighted that “bus stops need to have more universal design instead of just a signpost.” 

5. Fare-free transit makes Orientation and Mobility training more accessible. During my outing with Jaz and Annie, I learned about an additional benefit of fare-free transit that had not occurred to us at LSA before. Students like Jaz used to have to pay for these training trips. Nowadays, they don’t need to worry about loading money onto their SunTran cards or locating the scanner as they board the bus, and in Jaz’s words, they can “just focus on the lesson instead of money and payment.”  

All across the nation, we’ve built our cities, streets, and transportation systems around cars and people with the capacity to drive themselves in personal vehicles. Meanwhile, non-drivers from all walks of life, including people with disabilities, face daily challenges in getting around and accessing their jobs, schools, doctor’s appointments, etc. The morning we shared with Jaz reinforced for us the power of what we sometimes call the “curb-cut effect” - the idea that when we design for disabilities, we end up making things better for everyone else and our community as a whole.

For example, audible bus announcements would also benefit people who are not familiar with the area, in addition to serving a more essential function for blind people. While longer pedestrian cycles give blind people more time to safely cross the street, they are also beneficial to elder people who walk more slowly. Traffic signals that give us an automatic “walk sign” help us cross the street even when don’t hit the button in time to activate them and eliminate the need for blind people to search for them. Examples are countless, and it is clear that we, as a community, have not just a legal but also a moral obligation to build safe, accessible streets and transit for everyone.  

We want to give a big thank you to Jaz and Annie for letting us be a part of their training, and for enabling us to be part of this first-hand account of the barriers that people with disabilities face on a daily basis.