Scooter Permittees Receive Feedback from Students with Disabilities

Scooter Permittees Receive Feedback from Students with Disabilities
By Maddy Ruvolo

On a recent Monday in Golden Gate Park, 28 students and staff from AccessSFUSD gathered on JFK Drive to test-ride adaptive scooters. The group took turns riding adaptive devices from two scooter companies permitted to operate in the city, Lime and Spin. Adaptive devices are designed to meet the needs of riders with a variety of disabilities and provide additional stability features, such as a seat, a wider base, and an additional wheel. After trying the scooters, the students shared their feedback about a variety of design elements, including the wheels, seat, throttle, basket location, foot plate width, and the ease of getting started.

A group of AccessSFUSD students and staff rides adaptive scooters on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park Adaptive scooter demo in Golden Gate Park

Students embraced the opportunity to ride scooters and provide feedback. AccessSFUSD is a community-based program for students 18-22 with disabilities. Located across 11 sites in San Francisco, the program focuses on teaching functional life skills within the community setting. Developing advocacy skills is a key component of the program, and students enthusiastically shared their input with the scooter companies. Heidi Seretan, Special Education Department Head at AccessSFUSD: The Arc said, “It was a glorious day to ride and advocate on car-free JFK in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s own backyard.”

One student shared they had an “amazing first time” riding a scooter and described it as “the best.” Students also gave thoughtful constructive criticism, explaining when a particular seat height or device design didn’t work for them. And one student said that they “need more practice... but I'm getting the hang of it.”

AccessSFUSD students standing with Lime and Spin scooters; one student is giving a thumbs up Thumbs up to adaptive devices

Staff from Spin and Lime were on-hand to help students get rolling and to answer any questions. Both scooter permittees expressed their appreciation for the comments from AccessSFUSD students. Lime shared that they “enjoyed hearing directly” from the students and that their “hardware team has already begun reviewing students’ feedback to find ways to continue to refine our vehicles.” Spin echoed the importance of the students’ input, noting that “the direct feedback we gather from local San Francisco students and residents on our adaptive program is critical to continuously improving and more equitably serving the entire community.”

AccessSFUSD students on Lime and Spin scooters in Golden Gate Park AccessSFUSD students enjoying scooters

This is the second time the SFMTA has partnered with AccessSFUSD and scooter permittees to host an adaptive scooter demonstration, with the first event held in fall 2021. Any organization interested in partnering on a similar adaptive scooter event should get in touch with Maddy Ruvolo with our Accessible Services team by emailing Maddy.Ruvolo@sfmta.com.

A group of AccessSFUSD students wearing helmets Students ready to ride

The SFMTA has prioritized adaptive scooters as part of our Powered Scooter Share Permit Program. The three scooter permittees — Bird, Spin and Lime — are required to provide adaptive scooters as a minimum of 5% of their on-street fleet. The permittees also offer different types of adaptive devices through their Complementary Adaptive Programs, which provide longer-term adaptive rentals free of charge through scheduled drop-off and pick-up. We encourage all who are interested to try an adaptive scooter, and stay tuned for more scooter demonstration events coming later this year!

Published February 15, 2023 at 10:54PM
https://ift.tt/bDa5LUC

Comments

MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Lydia So

MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Lydia So By Stephen Chun Lydia So, a championed public servant, advocate for the AAPI community and an accomplished urban planner, designer and architect, has joined the SFMTA’s Board of Directors. She was appointed in June 2023 and sworn in by Mayor London Breed on Aug. 23, 2023, at Central Subway’s Chinatown Rose Pak Station, in line with her personal connection with the Chinatown community. So was born in Hong Kong and is fluent in Chinese (Cantonese). She is the founder of the architecture firm SOLYD Architecture, Management and Design. She is a former Historic Preservation Commissioner for the San Francisco Planning Department where she voted in favor of the Potrero Yard Modernization Project that is expected to bring hundreds of housing units to our city while maintaining the functions of the SFMTA. She was the first Chinese American Historic Preservation Commissioner, implemented the Planning Department’s Racial and Social Equity policy and

1 crore COVID-19 cases worldwide; death toll crosses 5 lakh https://ift.tt/2NCSU3C

The world has now seen over 1 crore cases of COVID-19, the illness which started spreading in the very beginning of the year and has now killed over 5 lakh people worldwide. As per latest figures, the world has seen 10,080,224 coronavirus cases including 501,262 deaths. Over 5 million people have also recovered after contracting the virus. from IndiaTV: Google News Feed https://ift.tt/3i81jtT

New top story from Time: The Ballroom Scene Has Long Offered Radical Freedoms For Black and Brown Queer People. Today, That Matters More Than Ever

https://ift.tt/2O8qsKr Marginalized by prejudice, violence, housing insecurity, and HIV infection rates among other burdens, Black and brown transgender and gender-nonconforming people face particular challenges in establishing secure, nourishing communities—both within LGBTQ spaces and in society at large. One response to these stigmas has been the formation of self-sustaining social networks and cultural groups, such as the ballroom scene, a formidable social movement and creative collective for LGBT people of color. Amid what has been called a new golden age for Black culture and storytelling , a particular “Renaissance” in queer Black art and cultural representation is clear. Ballroom culture is now widely seen and celebrated (and appropriated) in the mainstream—across fashion campaigns, music videos, social media and in TV shows like Pose , Legendary , and RuPaul’s Drag Race . And i n this moment, ballroom and voguing as the body politic has much to teach the world abou

FOX NEWS: 9-year-old kid finds $5k in cash while cleaning used car Sometimes, it literally pays to clean your car.

9-year-old kid finds $5k in cash while cleaning used car Sometimes, it literally pays to clean your car. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3fTmQpQ

FOX NEWS: California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3BKWsrb

FOX NEWS: 19-year-old shelter cat adopted after his birthday party goes viral: 'Open your heart' A senior shelter cat named Sammy was quickly adopted after going viral on TikTok.

19-year-old shelter cat adopted after his birthday party goes viral: 'Open your heart' A senior shelter cat named Sammy was quickly adopted after going viral on TikTok. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3xXcnkE

New top story from Time: ‘Some Seeds Are Being Planted.’ How Yasuke Paves a New Path for Black Creators in Anime

https://ift.tt/2PCZdsF It was around 13 years ago when LeSean Thomas first learned of Yasuke. At that time, Thomas came across the 1968 Japanese children’s book Kuro-suke by Kurusu Yoshio and saw illustrations of the real-life African warrior who arrived in 16th century Japan and served under Oda Nobunaga—a greatly influential feudal lord who is widely regarded as the first unifier of the country. “It kind of felt like a secret treasure,” Thomas said. He found it particularly fascinating that the story of Yasuke, largely considered to be the first foreign-born samurai, was told in a Japanese work. “I just thought it was really cool that there was someone in Japan who was validating this because a s a concept in the West at that time, it was kind of viewed as a self-insert culturally to put a Black man with someone who was one of the unifiers of Japan,” Thomas told TIME in a recent Zoom interview. “Even at the time I didn’t believe it.” That disbelief has since faded, a

Nitish Kumar will ditch BJP to join RJD after poll results: Chirag Paswan https://ift.tt/3kByTcP

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party Janata Dal (United) have done preparations to ditch the BJP and join Rashtriya Dal Party (RJD) after the poll results are out, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan said on Wednesday. Firing a fresh salvo at Kumar, Chirag Paswan said he has done preparations to leave the BJP and go with the RJD after the elections.

New top story from Time: How a Long History of Intertwined Racism and Misogyny Leaves Asian Women in America Vulnerable to Violence

https://ift.tt/3dLVkcS In the weeks since eight people, six of whom were Asian women , were killed in a mass shooting at three massage businesses in the Atlanta area, the conversations prompted by the event have continued—as has the fear felt by many Asian and Asian American women, for whom the violence in Georgia felt intimately familiar. The mass shooting followed a year of increased anti-Asian violence and racist attacks , which advocates say has been fueled by xenophobic rhetoric about the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting database created at the start of the pandemic as a way to chart the attacks, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian discrimination between March 19, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021; of those attacks, women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more often than men. However, in a press conference following the shooting spree, Captain Jay Baker, a spokesperson for the Cherokee County, Ga., sheriff’s office, said that the suspect, a white man, claim

Delhi Metro services hit due to farmers protest; entry, exit gates at 6 stations closed https://ift.tt/3dSxmN0

In view of “Delhi chalo”, a massive protest march by farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of India, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday announced the closure of entry & exit gates at six metro stations on the Green Line. The Delhi Metro authorities had earlier announced that services from neighbouring cities will remain suspended on Friday

My precise view

Search This Blog