 Ableton On Air is sponsored by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to be home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support comes together. Media sponsors for Ableton On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Ableton On Air include Jihad, New York, and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Ableton On Air has been seen in the following publications. Park Chester Times, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, and www.h.com. Ableton On Air is a member of the National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter. Welcome to this edition of Ableton On Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns, and achievements of the differently able. I've always been your host, Lauren Ciler, and Arlene is here today. Hi, Arlene. I'm Arlene Ciler. And on today's program, before we get to our wonderful guest, Elizabeth Parker from the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition of Montpelier, Vermont, we would like to say special thanks to our sponsors. Thank you to Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, Muslim Media Corporation, and many others, including support from the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and also the Vermont Division, I mean, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and many, many, many others. We would like to welcome Elizabeth Parker from the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, and today we're going to talk about transportation, especially during and after COVID, and also the Green Mountain Transit System and their quote unquote new My Ride program. Welcome to Ableton On Air, Elizabeth. Thank you so much, Laurence and Arlene, for having me here today. I'm so excited to be here with you. And one of the first things I wanted to ask you was, we have My Ride Community Advisory Group, and we have a list of about 90 community partners, and we would really love to add Ableton On Air to our partner list if you would be interested in joining us. Yes, we would definitely love to be part of your committee, and definitely help. And we thank you so much for coming to Ableton On Air today, and being our partner in this fight of accessible transportation. Before we begin, you know, one of the things so many people in so many states have problems with their transportation, so that maybe you can shed light on that. What are the missions and goals, first of all, what are the missions and goals of the Montpelier Sustainable Montpelier Coalition? Yeah, so the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, first of all, we've got a team of people, Tom Huberkson, we have an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, and he has been working with the CAN initiative. We have Laura Brooke, who's the CAN coordinator and has been our research director. Dan Jones is our founding director, and he's now currently working on a project of organizing a city-wide sustainability roundtable. And then, of course, there's me, Elizabeth Parker, I'm the community engagement director and the CFO. And so the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition came out of the Sustainable Montpelier 2030 design competition. Do you remember that? That was that we had a whole bunch of over 20 teams had done program, I mean, had done plans of what Montpelier might look like if there wasn't parking. Do you remember that was that where Ravel Rouser is now? It was like maybe five years ago? Oh yeah, with electric cars, right? No, it wasn't electric cars. It was diagrams of what Montpelier might look like if we didn't have parking. And so we started out, we had 20 entries, we put up the design competition, and we thought, you know, not many people will come, and suddenly people from Japan and from Italy and all of the United States and from San... And Montpelier was supposed to also have, I don't know if you were part of this, you were supposed to have a new parking garage with the hotel? No, we weren't involved with that, but the idea was how to... 65% of downtown is parking. And so we were trying to figure out what Montpelier might look like if, instead of parking, we had much needed housing, much needed new commercial space and green space along the river. So that's what the design competition was about. And so that's where we have our roots. We started there. And that was done by Nessier over Vermont and then Sustainable Montpelier Coalition started. And so our main goal is in the areas of clean transportation, it's land use. And so clean transportation, housing and open space. And now we're kind of, we branched into community building with capillary neighborhoods. Okay, can you explain to me about the GMTA My Ride and why that came to be? Sure. So as I was talking about the fact that one of our core issues is land use, if 65% of downtown is parking for single occupancy vehicles, then we can't put in new housing. And we desperately need new housing. I mean, we really, really need new housing. And so in other parts of the country, on demand microtransits, which is like a shared Uber or a shared Lyft, where you get to choose when you get picked up or dropped off or where you get picked up and dropped off, came into, we became aware of it. And our research director, Laura Brook, did a whole bunch of research on it. And then V-Trans got involved and created a working group of people who were from the city, the state, nonprofit, Peter Yanke from VCIL was on that working group. So we tried to have a broad base of representation so that people who had disabilities would be represented on that group. Why is it so hard for, if I'm saying it right, why is it so hard for people with special needs to have accessible transportation, especially in this world today, where we're going through? I honestly, it blows my mind that accessibility would be an issue in 2021. Unfortunately, it is. And I'm happy to say that COVID taught us a lot of lessons as a culture. Well, I just saw Bernie Sanders at an event three weeks ago, and he was talking about the fact that the federal government is going to put a lot more money into public transportation. And I think that is often the case that people who have, for instance, the disability of site are never going to be driving themselves around. So they need to have some sort of good public transportation option and opportunity. So I'm hopeful that the federal government will give more money to the states, and the states will pass that along to the local transportation, public transportation groups. And, yeah. Okay, so you want to ask a question within that? Yes. Transportation is okay. You have to quote, but what if somebody doesn't have a cell phone or a computer? What do they do? Yeah, and I think that that, so, you know, my right is important because there are some people who used to live in parts of my Pillar that weren't served by the bus system. What's great is that the service area has increased. What is the challenge of my right? If you don't have a phone, then you are, it's really hard. And so Sustainable My Pillar Coalition, along with GMT and all the community partners, worked on these questions. And we, in particular, talked to Disabilities Rights Vermont and had a fantastic conversation with them because we had previously thought, oh, we'll put tablets at different locations. And Disabilities Rights Vermont was like, no, that's not accessible for everyone. And not only that, you're opening yourself. I'm sorry to say this because it does happen. Example, New York used to have a lot of phones. Or pay phones. And they took them out. They took them out. They took them out because people were vandalizing them. So if you put a tablet somewhere, it's going to get vandalized. So if you put a phone, example, years ago, way back in the day when the police department first started in New York, they used to have these emergency call boxes. Exactly. Right, emergency box. You're going to stand a chance of it being vandalized. Yes, you may stand a chance, but it's a lot less likely that a transit phone, which is what you're talking about. No, no, it's fine. It's a good point. I guess that our point now, Lawrence, is that back in the day when people were vandalizing, that sort of transit phone or police call box was all there was. The probability of people vandalizing a phone like that is a lot less because people are looking for things that they can sell for cash. And so those transit phones are very, very well made. And I think that the other thing is that unlike New York where they were on the subway down in the dark, and there might not be anybody on the track. Yeah, you saw Hong Kong work, but now they're putting, they're putting, you know, like cell towers down underneath so you can make a phone call better, you know, make it more better. They're putting more, they're putting more cell towers in. Right, yeah, so with this. Right, it's very bad because they don't come on time. So Lawrence and Arlene, I wanted to say that what Disabilities Rights Vermont's recommendation was that we do put in transit phones, which are the, they look like old-fashioned pay phones, but you don't put any money in them. You just pick up the receiver and you go directly to the call center. And if those were located at Walmart, at Berlin Shaw's, My Peeler Shaw's, Price Chopper at My Peeler Housing Authority locations at the transit center, then people could go, you know, use those phones and be able to book their rise. The question of vandalism is a very valid point. I think, however, because of the public locations of all those places, the probability is a little bit smaller than it would be on a MD subway track in New York City. So you said now the key, the shortages of stuff, clean transportation, housing and open space. Yeah, so sustainable my Peeler's interest in that, that in Vermont, we drive, for people who do drive, the most rural miles. And so it turns out that our biggest environmental issue, greenhouse gas issue, is transportation. And so, you know, the idea is, oh, well, we'll have an electric vehicle and then it will be clean. But the problem that people don't realize is that the issue of energy and transportation and accessibility is so intertwined. If we had more people living downtown, then that would be much more energy efficient. And in the end, it would be more accessible for people. People who have accessibility issues cannot always find housing in downtown where they have access to all of the resources that they need. And so we're really interested in finding a way to get more housing downtown. So we realize that right now, the transit center was built in an apartment there. Exactly. So in other words, you want to build more housing. More housing like over the transit center where you could have commercial downstairs, where you could be above the floodplain, then have commercial and then have housing above it. And so we have all these state parking lots. And so what was funny was we started this initiative, and then COVID happened, and then everybody from the state worked from home. So all the parking lots that we were talking about transforming into housing were empty. And we realized, oh my gosh, look at how many acres of land are there that could be turned into housing and green space in commercial use. So it was interesting. Now, let's talk about GMTA and really how it works because, you know, for example, times are off, there's pros and cons to the system. How can or the sustainable Montpelier Coalition change that? Because some, you know, obviously Montpelier and Vermont has a huge elderly population and some people are not happy, some people are happy. So how can you change that? So yeah. One of the things I wanted to go through if you have time is just about. Okay, we've got plenty of time. If we need to go over, we can. Good. Okay, so because I just wanted to go over how to make, how to schedule a ride by phone. And the first thing, and then we're going to talk about what if your ride doesn't work after we talk about how you schedule a ride. How's that sound? Okay, good. So in the beginning, GMT had their Burlington number, but we're now have them using their local number so that it doesn't cost any money for people who still pay for long distance to make a call. So the phone number for GMT is 802-223-7287. And one of the things that's confusing is that when you call, you get this message and you have to push number one for a ride. Yeah, you have to choose number two for my ride. So you always want to push number two for my ride. And so option one has different hours than option two. Option one is for the volunteer drivers for medical ride. Is it? Yes, it is. Okay, but that has a shorter, that's from like 745 to 430 p.m. Monday through Friday. Option two is from seven o'clock to six o'clock Monday through Friday, eight o'clock to six o'clock on Saturday. So they're extended hours. So it's really important for people to always choose number two, option two. And so then for new riders, you always have to sign up and give your name and phone number. It's advised if you have email to give email. If you don't, then that's not a problem. And also, if you have accessibility issues, always feel free when you're signing up to tell the customer service representative, you know, by the way, I use a wheelchair. And so I would need to use the Lyft. Or by the way, you know, I'm sight impaired. So I would need to be supplied information in a larger font. You know, whatever the particular disability is, always feel comfortable giving that information because we really want to know that. Yeah, Arlene? Go ahead, Arlene. If somebody's blind, right? Yep. Do they have it in Braille? Yes. I believe that there is that option. Yes. And that can be sent to you. So, you know, I think that GMT is really, I mean, I've worked with them and they are really interested in making the service accessible. And they have done all sorts of, asked them to do things, and they have accommodated people many times. And I'm very happy to be working with them because they're so responsive and concerned about making the system accessible. You know, I know that we have a number of people who are completely blind who use the system, who were using the system before the service was switched over, and who have made a pretty seamless transition to the new system. So, you know. What was the old system and why didn't it work? Okay. So, the earlier system was what we call fixed route, fixed scheduled buses. So, there used to be three fixed route, fixed scheduled buses. One, the circulator, the mypelior circulator, which covered a good bit of mypelior, but not as big a service area as is now being covered. Then there was the capital shuttle, which basically went out to the Department of Labor, up to national life, and then back to the state house. And then the third bus was mypelior hospital hill, which ran from, it went from pioneer to lane shops, and then back through to Shaw's, and then up Berlin Street to CVMC, to the Berlin mall, and then Berlin Shaw's, and kept making that loop all day. Those buses were very effective. I mean, they took passengers where they needed to go. During COVID, it wasn't because of, what was the change? Was it because there was less people on the buses? This whole system came not because of COVID. This whole, the new, the MyRideByGMT initiative was conceived of and planned before COVID happened. And so, the advantage of the new system is that, for instance, one time I was riding hospital hill. I used to ride hospital hill every morning to go up to first and fitness, because I've had a scoliosis, I've had back pain all my life, and so if I don't exercise, I suffer for it. So I would swim six days a week, and I would take the bus up. First thing in the morning, I would catch it at like seven, 10, and go up to first and fitness, and then come back and then go to work. And so one time I was coming back, and I ran into a couple who lived on Berry Street, and they lived down beyond the co-op. They had a child, and they would go up and they would get their groceries up at Walmart. And in the wintertime, here they are with a stroller, and the guy has this huge backpack, and they have a second stroller to carry some of their goods. So they would have to go from Citizens Bank and walk all the way down Berry Street with all that stuff. Now, with a new system, they can get picked up at their house with their child in the wintertime when it's snowing, and they can go shop, and they can get all their groceries, and they can be dropped off right at their house. So there are lots of accessibility issues for people like that who weren't right on the fixed route, a fixed route locations. And so I did want to get into, so when you call GMT, and you choose option two, if you're a new rider, in addition to expressing your accessibility concerns, there's also notification that happens, and you want to make sure that your notifications are turned on. So when you're registering, always ask that notifications are turned on. So that means that you would be called the night before and told that you have arrived, and when... You would get a text also. You might get a text, you might get a, some people don't get text. You might get an email, a text, or a phone call the night before, depending upon what your preference is. And then when the driver arrives at your location, they press a button, and a text, phone call, or email is sent to your address. And so you would get a phone call saying, you know, your driver has arrived. For most people, they can't get from their house to their location where the driver is in two minutes, but it's a courtesy. So it's important to have the... And the other thing I wanted to talk about is, when you schedule a ride, you have two choices. You can choose the time you leave, and then it's up to the system to choose the time you arrive, or if you have an appointment you have to get to, you would choose your arrival time. So if I had a doctor's appointment at CVMC at 10 o'clock, I would choose to arrive at CVMC at least 15 minutes early. So I would choose an arrival time of 9.45, and then the system would figure out when they would pick you up in order to get you to CVMC by 9.45. So then there's some people who were like, oh, well, I was late, and if you are ever late for an appointment, and you do not use the app, but you use the phone, please, please, please, please call the call center and report it. Because it turns out that the app is... has everything figured out. If there is an issue of lateness, it means that there has been a human error, and it means that either there's been a traffic jam, or there's a driver error as far as timing. And so we need, as a system, you know, all the riders are now... Are they using computers from the house, the dispatchers, or are they in an office somewhere? Well, they... for a while, the call center people were working from home, but now everybody's coming back into the office at GMT. So it doesn't matter if they were using their computers at home or not, it's still the same integrated system. Are they... the new call center, is it people that work for GMT, or they're... Yes. For the My Ride? Yes. So everybody... so let's just back up a moment. So underneath My Ride is a new system, is a computer system called My Ride by GMT app, and it's designed by a group called VIA, who are from Boston, and they're recognized... Laura Brooke, our research director, when she did her studies, all of the people who are using VIA are very happy because VIA is very responsive. If we have a problem, then they will listen and they will fix it on their end. And so one of the things that's important is if you have a problem with the system, call and report it, because only by our knowing that there's a problem can we fix it. And so it's really, really important. So what I'm doing right now is I'm looking at some different issues that keep coming up over and over again and trying to write it up so that we can then give it to VIA so that they can solve those problems. Because really now, I want everybody to think that you are a co-owner of this system. You're not just a rider anymore. If you give a response and give that feedback, then it can get improved. Before we end, are there other transportation programs that Sustainable Montpellier Coalition is working on, or is it basically just this? It's just this because we're not really in the... We don't really do transportation. We're only doing transportation to get land use downtown changed. That's really why we're doing it. And I have to say that this has been a wonderful process. Since October 15th when we started on this, we have formed relationships, as I said, with 90 different community partners. And I'm happy to add Ableton On Air to that group. And I was listening to your introduction and I wanted to make sure that Vermont Association of the Blind is on that list too. Yes, I said Vermont Association of the Blind. Yeah, and what I'm saying is I'm going to make sure that they're on that list. But anyway, so I was talking before about arrival and departure time and it's really important that you know which you're getting. Because if you have to arrive at a certain time, choose to be a little bit early and make sure you choose arrival time so you get where you need to go on time. Okay, so... Can I ask you a question? Sure. How long does these my rides... What time... What is the last my ride? How long can you get on my ride? How long is the time? Usually, so my ride on Monday through Friday starts at seven o'clock in the morning. So usually a pickup time would be like seven, ten, the first pickup or so, realistically. And usually the last pickup time like up at the mall would be 5.45 because the bus has to get you back to Montpelier and then get back to the Berlin, you know, transit barn by six o'clock when their shift ends. So that's the range of time during the week. On the weekend, the service starts at eight o'clock in the morning so you would usually get like your first pickup time. And then the last thing I wanted to say Arlene was that, you know, if you schedule in advance, you know, like the day before or even the month before, you have your prioritized in the system. We are, you know, there are some people who just want to order up a bus on the fly. And so, for instance... Does that ruin it for people or is it... You mean the fact? Is it problematic that they're doing it ahead? That's their choice. And so if you know that you're going to have a doctor's appointment, you know, in three weeks, book the ride for that now. You don't wait for it. No, if it's my ride, I try that. I have to call the other number for the volunteer drivers because the my ride said it has to be the same day. No. I was told that. No, well then that's misinformation. You can reserve a my ride trip for up to a month in advance. And so if you're... I'm not arguing with you. I'm just saying I'm just told the wrong information. And I'm telling you that you were given wrong information. I'm trying to clarify. If anybody hears that you can't book in advance, you need to ask for a supervisor because that's not true. And so you can also have a recurring ride. So there are people who, for instance, work at Berlin Shaws and they book a ride five days a week at the same time for up to a month out in advance. And then they have their return trip booked at the same time in the evening up to a month in advance. So you can book all those trips in one sitting. Okay. So where can people read you? And then where can people reach my ride? Okay. So it's really important that people reach out to GMT if they have any questions. And I believe the email is info at ridegmt.com if you have a concern and you can email. Otherwise, if you want to reach GMT, the phone number again is 802-223-7287, option two. And the website for Montpelier... Sustainable Montpelier Coalition. So our website is SustainableMontpelier.org and our phone number is 802-272-1195. And we are also on social media on Facebook and Instagram for people who do that. And if you have email and you want to shoot us an email, we're info at SustainableMontpelier.org. Well, we'd like to thank you for joining us on this edition of A Book and On Air. Again, if you would like more information on Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, you can go to www.SustainableMontpelier.org. Or the number is 802-272-1195. And GMTA to Book and My Ride is 802... Yeah, so they're 802... Oh my gosh. Here, it's right here on this sheet. 802-223-7287. I know it in my sleep. 802-223-7287. Option two. Option two. And for those that want to find out more about Ableton On Air, you can go to www.OrcaMedia.net. That's O-R-C-A-Media.net. And we would like to thank Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. And we would like to especially thank Elizabeth Parker and our new partner... Yes, I'm so excited. Our new partner of Ableton On Air, Sustainable Montpelier Coalition. Please, it's extremely important to have transportation for people with disabilities, and we hope that My Ride does continue. I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Arlene Seiler. See you next time. Ableton On Air is sponsored by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to be home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support comes together. Media sponsors for Ableton On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Ableton On Air include Jihad, New York, and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Ableton On Air has been seen in the following publications. Park Chester Times, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebronx.info, and www.h.com. Ableton On Air is a member of the National Academy