Centro Lead Operations Supervisor Leo Williams (Left) and Assistant Lead Operations Supervisor Chuck Acevedo (Right) accept the Paul Ouderkirk Award

The CNYRTA has been presented with the first Paul Ouderkirk Memorial Award for its innovative training program emphasizing bus operator bus stop announcements in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Since its enactment in 1990, the ADA law requiring the announcements of key bus stops has presented unique challenges for public transportation providers across the Unites States. Employee turnover, technology costs and unreliability, and increased interaction with local human service agencies further identifying the needs of customers provided the impetus to find a cost effective solution.

The CNYRTA, led by Lead Operations Supervisor Leo Williams and Assistant lead Supervisor/ADA Compliance Officer Charles Acevado, created a multi-media training program; "ADA Stop Announcements - The Transit Operator's Role and Responsibilities of Calling Out Bus Stops."

The program uses a combination of exercises, lecture and experiential activities to educate bus operators about the history of the ADA, their compliance responsibilities, how to act with sensitivity to persons with disabilities, and the value in making the stop announcements for all passengers.

Included in the training are sessions where bus operators wear specially altered goggles to replicate specific visual impairments. They are then asked to walk to buses and board.

Bus operators are also shown pictures of what a sight impaired individual may see when trying to view actual bus stops through the window of a Centro bus.

Local advocacy groups are also part of the training, providing first hand descriptions of living with disabilities and reinforced the importance of having bus stops regularly announcement.

This program is recognized by the Federal Transit Administration as one of 'best practices" and the results will be published in a future federal transit report.