Transportation: Making Connections Forum Explores Beyond the Bus for People with Disabilities

Hosted by the Connecticut Department of Social Services/Bureau of Rehabilitation Services Connect-Ability Initiative and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the half-day event showcased existing and underused transportation options. The event was designed to broaden partnerships and share ideas to increase accessible transportation and reduce barriers to employment for the more than 250,000 residents who have a physical disability.

"According to a UConn Health Center needs assessment, transportation issues are the number one employment challenge preventing people with disabilities from joining the workforce," said Claudette Beaulieu, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Social Services. "Connecticut offers an array of options for people with disabilities to join the workforce. By working together with business leaders and residents we can make it easier for everyone to get to work."

The Forum at the Connecticut Expo Center highlighted the many existing services that are often underutilized. "Too often, when people think of public transit, they think only of the bus. That is only one option - the key is to match up the right option to the need. We want to make people more aware of what's available," noted Deputy Commissioner Al Martin of the Department of Transportation.

Forum participants toured live demonstrations of an accessible taxi, an ADA paratransit van (specially equipped with a lift, hand rails and other equipment for wheelchairs and assistive equipment), a personal vehicle with modification and a fuel cell bus. The event also featured a panel discussion highlighting a few of the many transportation programs that could create and expand employment opportunities and help residents reduce the cost of their commute to and from work. Highlights of existing programs that provide opportunities include:

    -- Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC): Available from the Department of
       Social Services and DOT, JARC provides access to employment
       opportunities for low-income workers, including those with
       disabilities, and Temporary Family Assistance-eligible individuals.
       Services vary by region and can include free monthly bus pass for job
       search or getting to work the first month, child care transportation
       programs, information/training on how to use public transportation and
       car-based solutions that include car repair, gas cards and mileage
       reimbursements. For more information, residents can dial 211 to contact
       their local Department of Social Services Office.

    -- Travel Training: Teaches people with disabilities and elderly how to
       properly and safely use the local rail and bus system. The Kennedy
       Center can be contacted at 203-365-8522.  The state Board of Education
       and Services for the Blind also provides travel training for
       individuals who are visually impaired. For more information, contact
       the orientation and mobility specialist at 800-842-4510.

    -- Commuter Tax Benefit: Promotes federal tax law allowing employees to
       set aside pre-tax income to pay for transit and vanpool fares. As of
       January 2008, employees may set aside up to $115 a month of their
       salaries before taxes to pay for transit and vanpool fares. An employee
       may also set aside up to $220 a month to pay for qualified parking
       expenses at or near a worksite or facility from which and employee
       commutes via transit, vanpool or carpool. The Commuter Tax Benefit is
       available only through an employer-sponsored commute benefit program
       and is easy to set up. Employers can visit
       http://www.commutertaxbenefit.org for more information.

Residents interested in more information can request a new Transportation Options and Resources inConnecticut brochure, which outlines existing options and resources for people with disabilities including ADA Paratransit, Job Access and Reverse Commute as well as Travel Training for people with disabilities.Connecticut residents interested in receiving the brochure should contact Connect-Ability by calling 1-866-844-1903 or visit http://www.connect-ability.com.

Panel participants included Peggy Griffin, Office of Civil Rights, Federal Transit Administration; Jonathan Rubell, Mobility Services Manager, the Kennedy Center inTrumbull, CT; Mike Sanders, Transit Administrator, Connecticut Department of Transportation; Gloria Mills, Executive Director, Connecticut Association for Community Transportation; Pat Williams, Director of Paratransit, Greater Hartford Transit District; and Louis Shulman, Administrator, Norwalk Transit District.

The Connect-Ability Initiative (www.connect-ability.com), funded by a Department of Social Services grant received from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is seeking ways to support the competitive employment of people with disabilities by bringing able job-seekers together with employers, facilitating and developing a comprehensive system of employment supports for people with disabilities.

SOURCE The Connect-Ability Initiative

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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

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