Speaking of "ADA" related complaints.

[TVRM610]

So I'm on the City of New Orleans and a group of 4 deaf ladies traveling together missed out on eating in the diner because they didn't hear the announcements. I don't know all the details...

Just pieced together the story from watching in the lounge car. But they never did get to eat in the diner (and they waited very patiently). It made me very sad. Obviously they could get something in the lounge but if I was a lawyer i would be talking to them right now.

The dining car crew was actually really nice so I'm not sure what happened but like I said... Made me very sad.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Wonder if they notified Amtrak that they'd need assistance if even only by using the disability discount which, I assume, would be noted on the manifest.

I'm not defending Amtrak, but do know that hearing people can be ignorant of deafness & if they did not let it be known they would need assistance, then I don't see it as a violation of ADA.

I flew two different airlines in the past 2 years and noted by deafness/hoh on my reservation. Both accommodated me at the gate when told them I would not be able to hear announcements (I was allowed to pre-board). But only one of the airline's FAs acknowledged me on the plane & asked if I needed assistance.

 

[TVRM610]

I'm not sure how they communicated to the staff...

It could very well be the staff did not understand the situation.

I agree it's not really a ADA violation but still something that should have been handled smoother.

Every time I eat in an Amtrak diner I realize how it really doesn't work. I think the CCC idea was a great concept but really never put into practice the way it was designed.

 

[TVRM610]

Also Amtrak Blue... How has train travel been for you?

 

[Henry Kisor]

Deaf people need to let the conductors and car attendants know of their deafness—and their wishes to eat in the diner. If they don't, how can they be accommodated?

Occasionally Amtrak crew will get busy with something else and forget, and they need to be reminded.

Sometimes deaf people are passive and wait for things to happen. Things often won't.

 

[benjibear]

I agree that if they didn't notify Amtrak of their disability, how would Amtrak have known to accommodate them.

I do however can see the day that each car will have a message board of some kind to announce upcoming stops, special announcements, emergency direction, etc. I believe the Acela has something like this. This may not only be for deaf people but people listening to music.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I've only done one LD trip & I had my daughter with me, so she helped me hear announcements. I had not asked for help from the staff. I do recall being in our roomette in Utah after dark and we were stopped for some reason. My daughter was napping (we were getting off at Provo) and I could not understand what was being said in the PA about what was happening even though I opened the door since it was the hallway PA. I don't know if the SCA would have come to me to explain things had I asked for accommodations due to my hearing.

I wear HAs so can hear ok if the "sound" is clear.

If I travel alone I will let people know that I'm deaf in case important information needs to be announced.

Maybe TraneMan can share his experiences on the EB.

 

[ozbuc]

Though I am not deaf I am profoundly hearing impaired. My wife is deaf in one ear and impaired in the other. I always inform the SCA of this when boarding. I ask that they let us know when our dinner reservations are called and when there are important announcements made. It has never worked out for us. I understand that the SCAs are busy folks and might forget but not a 100% of the time.

 

[the_traveler]

I am not hearing impaired, but sometime miss hearing the announcements. (Except on train #66 between WAS and NYP where the conductor insists on announcing EVERY station stop - and this is between ~10 pm and 2 am! )

 

[Karl1459]

Just brainstorming... Some ways to accomodate.

Smart phone texts of important messages to pax. Implememted by some sort of app or other means of syncronizing the condutors smart phone with the pax smart phone, likely using the eticket database. Smart phone can then be set to vibrate (or "ring" for non hearing impared) and acknowledge reciept of message. Could be useful for wake ups, diner res, station stops, and some emergencies, etc. Could also be useful as a service request tool for sleeper attendants, especially if duties are shared between cars. Properly implemented the service request feature could be used to monitor attendants performance, providing rational data. For example a service call take 20 minutes to answer... too long you say, except the SA had 6 other calls to deal with. Or sleeper car one has 6 calls... sleeper attendant 2 has none so can come over and help out.

For pax without smart phones perhaps Amtrak could have a loaner system of restricted use phones.

Just thinkin...

 

[jebr]

Just brainstorming... Some ways to accomodate.
Smart phone texts of important messages to pax. Implememted by some sort of app or other means of syncronizing the condutors smart phone with the pax smart phone, likely using the eticket database. Smart phone can then be set to vibrate (or "ring" for non hearing impared) and acknowledge reciept of message. Could be useful for wake ups, diner res, station stops, and some emergencies, etc. Could also be useful as a service request tool for sleeper attendants, especially if duties are shared between cars. Properly implemented the service request feature could be used to monitor attendants performance, providing rational data. For example a service call take 20 minutes to answer... too long you say, except the SA had 6 other calls to deal with. Or sleeper car one has 6 calls... sleeper attendant 2 has none so can come over and help out.

For pax without smart phones perhaps Amtrak could have a loaner system of restricted use phones.

Just thinkin...

The largest problem would be coverage...Amtrak would need to have the app implement some sort of internal wi-fi functionality (where the attendant's phone would be attached to the train's wi-fi network, passengers would connect to the train's wi-fi network, and the request could be communicated without having connection to the outside world.) There are still portions of routes that have little to no cell phone coverage, especially if a customer has one of the plans from Sprint, T-Mobile, or their prepaid alternatives where there's no roaming/no data roaming off of their network. (Even AT&T and Verizon would have some issues, but not as many as Sprint or T-Mobile.)

Until that happens, the idea would be a bad idea to implement, simply because having the call service require outside cell service access would be unreliable without an internal "fallback."

 

[PerRock]

It doesn't have to be an actual phone. some sort of closed circuit system could be employed. They use a similar wireless system in theaters & such for HoH people. The receivers don't really work that far away from the transmitter (you could put one in each car). If the majority of the announcements were automated (which I'm surprised Amtrak doesn't do already) when the conductor or LSA hits the button to announce whatever announcement the device would display it. Digital screens in cars would help as well.

peter

 

[benjibear]

The bottom line is if you are deaf or hard of hearing you should still notify Amtrak and let the conductor know when you board.

 

[Bus Nut]

The bottom line is that it is totally unacceptable to make announcements that are not accessible on public transportation. This whole industry has had to go through a change since 1989, not all change is bad. Crew people maybe need to send reminders to themselves to accommodate these passengers.

Automated annoucements with digital sign boards would be awesome. Buses all over the world have these showing the next stop. I hope that Amtrak is planning for this for the future.

However, in the meantime, human capital is going to have to fill the gap here.

 

[the_traveler]

The bottom line is that it is totally unacceptable to make announcements that are not accessible on public transportation. ... Automated annoucements with digital sign boards would be awesome. Buses all over the world have these showing the next stop. I hope that Amtrak is planning for this for the future.

I don't know if Amtrak is planning this or not. The problem is still money from Congress. Every year it's a fight to get money for Amtrak. It seems that Congress wants Amtrak to do more and more with less and less each year. If money was not a problem, the Superliners that many ride on would not be 20-30 years old or more! (I believe the "newest" ones were made in the early 1990's!)

 

[Guest]

It was a few years ago, but I witness something similar on an Amtrak train.

Across the isle from us, was a blind woman, with her seeing eye dog. Her seat had three checks; one for her, one for the dog, and a special colored one noting she has requested special assistance. All she was asking for, was for the conductor to come and tell her when she was at her destination (I think the PA system wasn't working.... normal for Amtrak).

The conductor, nor anyone on his behalf, bothered to come and tell her that we were approaching her station. Good thing we were there, and chatted enough with her to know where she was getting off the train (and why ... she was going to some seeing eye dog place). We made sure she didn't miss her stop.

 

[Nathanael]

Though I am not deaf I am profoundly hearing impaired. My wife is deaf in one ear and impaired in the other. I always inform the SCA of this when boarding. I ask that they let us know when our dinner reservations are called and when there are important announcements made. It has never worked out for us. I understand that the SCAs are busy folks and might forget but not a 100% of the time.

That's pretty terrible. Actually that's ADA complaint worthy.

 

[rainyday6]

The ADA is fractured into so many subcategories; it's not just everyone deserves the same across the board. What is required for hotels/public lodging will be different than what is required for transportation or telecommunications. Also, most regulations are safety related. To require Amtrak to identify hearing impaired passengers and put in place a system to notify them it's chow time seems a bit silly to me. The common sense solution is for them to notify the attendant. However, having flashing light smoke alarms would be necessary. It would be interesting to know if these are installed in all rooms and common areas.

 

[Bus Nut]

Rainyday, you are correct, there are specific regulations for transportation pertaining to persons with disabilities.

Nobody is forcing Amtrak to install any system, but absent a system it does fall on crew. If they're dropping the ball that is not good.

 

[Henry Kisor]

I'm profoundly deaf, so I have a dog in this fight. Agreed that ADA requirements are confusing and spotty. But I'd LOVE for Amtrak to have message display boards in every car, just as many metropolitan train services do (such as the D.C. Metro). And that idea of an app for smartphones or tablets is excellent. Something to look forward in the future, I hope.

One thing I often do is if my SCA doesn't come tell me about dinner calls (happens all the time even with the really good SCAs), I go to the diner at the appointed time, and if the LSA shoos me away I tell her or him I'm deaf and point to my wrist. Sometimes they'll say "five minutes," or "ten minutes," and occasionally will seat me at an empty table just to save time and effort. Once on the Zephyr when lunch reservations were imposed because of a huge tour group, I told the LSA I was deaf and she said just go to the lounge car and I'll come get you when your name comes up. Forty-five minutes later, she did.

Most of the time everything goes smoothly.

 

[Guest]

..., I go to the diner at the appointed time, and if the LSA shoos me away I tell her or him I'm deaf and point to my wrist.

Same thing happens to us who have no problem hearing, but the PA system is broken. We "dare" to go to the dining car at our appointed time to only be shoo'ed away by the LSA like we shouldn't be there.

"Its not 6:00 until I say its 6:00!"