| Category | 25 subjects |
| Limited service | 29 |
| Excess time | 11 |
| Lack of information | 8 |
| Transfer problems | 5 |
| Safety | 2 |
| Misc. | 5 |
Only 25 subjects answered the question, with the other five subjects indicating
they had no problems with transportation that affected their employment opportunities
By far the most common problem indicated was “limited service,”
with 29 responses. This category included comments about limited service
areas, frequency of vehicles, limited hours (especially on weekends and late
at night), work destinations having to be close to transit, and that it was
hard to travel long distances because various transit agencies and routes are
not connected.
Excessive travel times were mentioned 11 times. This category included comments about slow travel times, long waits, and other time constraints. Lack of information was mentioned eight times. These included comments about drivers not announcing stops, finding buses and bus stops, and, in general, a lack of personal spatial orientation and other identifying information.
Transfer problems were mentioned five times. This category included comments about problems while making transfers and the uncertainty and difficulty inherent in transfer tasks. Comments about safety were made twice. One subject mentioned unsafe street crossing, and another mentioned having had an accident.
There were five comments that did not fall easily into any category. Two people mentioned “expensive cab rides,” and another mentioned “poor driver attitudes.” Two more general statements were “transit is a disadvantage” and “not reliable.”
There was evidence of an order effect for this question. It was asked
before any other discussion of transit difficulties for blind people.
The comments were about limited hours and service and inconvenience.
Few comments were made that would not also be made by the general transit-dependent
population. For this question, subjects did not mention problems caused
by their lack of vision, but dealt with problems of a fixed route transit system.
Later on, as the questions got more specific, they opened up and talked
about problems caused by lack of vision.
| Category | 23 subjects |
| Problems with identity or spatial information | 56 |
| System problems | 24 |
| Poor signage | 6 |
| Safety problems | 2 |
| Misc. | 2 |
Only 23 subjects answered the question, with seven subjects indicating that
they had no problems with making transfers that affected their employment opportunities.
This question asked subjects to think about “transferring between different
transit modes.” This question appeared to cause subjects to think beyond
their previous answers that mostly criticized the transit system itself and
to start to deal with problems caused by their lack of vision.
By far the most common problem indicated was “problems with identity or spatial information.” Subjects made 56 comments that fit this category. They included general statements about lack of information and making connections to more specific comments about the difficulties in finding, buses, bus stops, fare machines, gates, and other amenities. They also mentioned how they “did not know” where many of the transit locations were. They also mentioned how hard it was to get help about the system. These subjects’ responses confirm the basic premise that the blind and vision-impaired lack access to information, especially spatial information that restricts their use of transit and, therefore, restricts their ability to travel independently and to take advantage of urban opportunities.
Problems with the transit system were mentioned 24 times. These comments included concerns about long wait times, limited hours and service areas, and other time constraints. They also mentioned stations not being accessible or standardized.
Poor signage was mentioned six times. These comments could have been included in either of the first two categories, but it is treated separately here, because signage for the blind has been largely ignored. These responses were from those who had some limited vision. After they had used RIAS (see sections 3.4.2 , 3.4.3 , 3.4.4 ), the problem of signage became apparent even to those with no vision.
Comments about safety issues were made two times: one subject mentioned unsafe street crossings and another mentioned that bus transfer points were unsafe. There were two comments that were not categorized. One mentioned that mistakes can be made, and another mentioned how advance trips had to be made in order to understand the system before it can be effectively used. These could have fit into several of the categories like poor signage or problems with spatial information.
The results of these two questions shed some light on problems facing the vision-impaired
traveler. Subjects mentioned many of the same problems of transit that
are inherent in any fixed-route transit system, such as inadequate or restricted
service areas, long waits between vehicles, long walks or expensive rides to
a transit stop, inadequate signage, and the confusion of multiple systems.
In addition, they mentioned specific problems relating to their lack of vision,
such as having trouble finding locations and the difficulty of finding information
and assistance. These vision-related difficulties and their possible
mitigation by the use of RIAS are examined in depth in the next section.
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