Morninging everyone. The open meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is recorded. Therefore, please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made by Boston City TV, a part of the City of
Boston Office of Cable Communications, and is being broadcast on Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and FiOS channel 962, as well as livereamed on YouTube, where the recording will remain uh after tonight's meeting. And with
that, I turn it over to board chair Jerry Bo. Good evening uh everyone. Uh welcome to the August uh meeting of the Disability Commission Advisory Board. Um happy to be here this evening. Thanks everyone
for for taking the time. I do know that we probably have board members and members of the public who are enjoying their their early August and their their summer. So, but uh really appreciate everyone's time who's able to make the
meeting tonight. A and um let's start with introductions. Uh Pette, do you want to introduce yourself? >> Good evening everyone. This is Plet Durette. I live in the Mad Pan um section of Boston. I'm a older black
female. I have on a red shirt and eyeglasses. >> Great. Thank you. And uh Paul, do you want to introduce yourself? >> Yes, my name is Paul Karen. I serve on the executive committee of the disability advisory board and also a
supervisor in the Boston planning department. Um I'm a white male with short hair and I represent the west end of Boston area. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you, Paul. Um Olivia here, would you like to introduce yourself,
please? Yes, my name's Olivia Richard. I am the vice chair and of the advisory board and uh I hail from Brighton. I am a
middle-aged white female with short hair and glasses wearing a blue t-shirt. >> Great. Um Tara, would you like to introduce yourself, please? >> Sure. My name is Carl Richardson. I'm a middle-aged Caucasian male with salt and
pepper hair wearing a maroon polo shirt. I identify as a deaf blind individual and I lived in the Brighton Center neighborhood. >> Great. And sorry for the lack of
clarity. I I actually went for Tara to go next, but it's okay, Carl. No problem. >> I thought you said Carl. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. And it was probably my my speech or line. >> No, it's my hand, but it doesn't matter. Thank you. >> It doesn't doesn't matter as long as long as we all get to introduce
ourselves. Tara, go ahead, please. >> Hi everyone. I'm Tara Sudd. I'm wearing a blue shirt with glasses. Um, my hair is a ponytail. I live on the JP Roxberry line and I am the secretary of the
advisory board. Great. Um, and Zaryi, would you like to go next, please? >> Sure. Hi everyone. Uh, my name is Zaryi. I am resident of South Boston. I'm a
female with short, uh, grayish brownish hair. Um, and I have a physical disability. I'm a wheelchair user. Um, and that's it. And I'm a member of the board. Great. And I didn't uh actually identify
where where I'm from. My name is uh Jerry Boyd. I am I am proud to serve as chair of the advisory board. I am a middle-aged uh white male with salt and
pepper hair. I have kind of a I guess phone green uh uh polo shirt on. Uh um and I am proud to live in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Um so
thank you everyone for uh those introductions. Um Commissioner, would you like to introduce yourself now or wait till your report? >> Hey. Hi. Thanks, Jerry. Hi everybody. I'm Kristen Mccash. I'm the disability commissioner and ADA title 2 coordinator
for the city of Boston. I am a white female wearing glasses and a white shirt and I have a background of city hall on my screen. I also use a wheelchair. >> Great. And I believe we have a quorum now. Can you just confirm that for me, Andrea,
please? >> Yes, I can. Confirmed. >> Okay. So, because next on the agenda is the approval of the uh July minutes. Do I hear a motion to approve? I this is call. I'll make a motion to
approve the minute as proposed. >> And do I have a second, please? >> I'll second. >> Uh any discussion hearing? None. Um all in favor either say I or just uh raise your hand.
>> I >> I >> Great. I believe the motion passes unanimously which is always awesome. Um and next we will have a presentation
uh from the MBTA's uh office of systemwide accessibility uh with with Laura Brosford. And I see Laura is on online as well as several members of of of your team. So uh so take it away Laura. Thanks for being
here this evening. Yeah, thanks so much, Sherry, and thanks everyone for the invitation to come and speak tonight. It's great to see so many of you. Uh, for those who I haven't had a chance to meet before, I'm Laura Brzford. Uh, I
serve as the assistant general manager for systemwide accessibility at the MBTA. Um, I'm joined tonight by two members of my team, uh, Nicole Dron and Glendon Campbell and Nicole and Clinton. if you'd like to
just take a second to introduce yourselves, that would be that would be great. >> Yes. Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yeah. Um, so my name is Nicole Tyrone. Um, I'm the manager of accessible
mobility coordination and training development for systemwide accessibility. And thank you so much for um, extending the invite to this meeting tonight. Hi there everyone. My name is Glenda Campbell. I manage the
internal access monitoring program. So that's our secret shopper program. Very unique program uh part of systemwide accessibility. Uh I started out as a monitor myself in 2018 uh and now have uh the managing position in 2022. Uh
it's very nice to meet you all and and hear from you all. So thank you for having me. Awesome. Thanks, guys. Uh, by far away the best thing about working uh for the team is getting to work with my team every day.
So, um, I'm really glad uh Glenda and Nicole were able to join this evening. Um, all right, let me pull up some slides here. So, Commissioner Mash and Gandria
suggested I walk through some highlights of major projects happening throughout the system, particularly those who may be interest to uh to those of us who live and or are
traveling around Boston. Um, so tonight's presentation is really a look at those things we're most excited about that are in the pipeline, covering a a bunch of different modes of
our system. Um, and we'll leave enough time at the end for for any questions and feedback that folks may have. All right. So, starting off in the world of bus operations,
uh here on the screen, we've got an image of two folks getting ready to board a bus with the ramp deployed. One of them is an individual who's blind and using a white cane and another is a yellow man
pushing a child in their their stroller. Um so one of one of the projects we wanted to highlight here is first let me back up. I I think everyone's aware the MBTA um has done a lot of work over the years to improve
bus surgeons in general uh through developing better policies, trainings and uh doing a lot of work to make sure that operators are fully held accountable. And we're
really proud today to be able to say that our bus service is some of the most reliable and accessible uh out there in the in the country. Um but one area where we know
there's room for improvement is on the bus stop side of things. So, one effort that's been underway for a few years is a plan to upgrade the least accessible bus stops in our network. Um, over the
last four years, we've upgraded over 400 stops. Um, a number of them are in the city of Austin. Uh, and we've got an additional 40 planned for this year. In addition, one thing we're
really excited about is we just received 15 uh $15 million in fair share funding. So that's funding from the millionaires tax to introduce more bus stop shelters and other amenities
across another 100 stops. and anywhere. We're introducing big amenities like a shelter. We're going in and making sure that those stops are fully fully accessible. Not only in stops themselves, but the paths of travel to
the stops. Um most of the stops that we serve are located on the property of city, the city or town uh that the stops located in. So often we are coordinating with the city doing this
work on behalf of the city because we recognize what a benefit is benefit it is to our writers. Um and so just to look at some of the amenities you'll see rolling out by over
over the next uh few months and years. We've standardized our shelter designs through the full-size shelter you see there in the center of the screen that comes with coverage on all sides and a bench
for bus stops where we don't have a lot of sidewalk width and we have a narrow shelter which is illustrated there on the left that works for sidewalks that are between 7 than 9 ft
long. Um in addition um anywhere we cannot feed a shelter. So anywhere that our sidewalks are more narrow than 7 ft, we are installing benches.
and we've settled on a a relatively new bud bench standard that was identified after lots of user testing to make sure we were picking a bench that works for the widest array of people possible. Um, and you see that on
the right side of your screen. The other thing we are very excited about is we've redesigned our bus stop signs so that they are much larger and much easier for everyone to see. So you'll
see these larger format screens popping up across the system. Um, one other effort that we are particularly excited about is just within the last year, we
received approval from the legislature to move forward with the plan to sort of automatically issuing tickets to drivers who are
illegally parked in bus lanes and bus stops. So, for the first time ever, we're going to be able to use camera technology that's located on our buses
to take photos of license plates of vehicles that are blocking bus stops and issue tickets uh to the drivers if they were in fact violating the bus stop law. So this has is a system that's rolled
out in a number of other major cities and has resulted in a huge drop in violators. Um, as uh many folks know here, this is one of the biggest frustrations that those of us who are dependent on
bus service experience where you're waiting at a stop and the bus operator cannot get to the curb because there's a car parked in the stop. We're really hoping that the effect of this effort reduces things uh significantly.
Um, so there is for everyone's awareness, there is a hearing coming up uh later this month just to let everyone know what's going to be happening. Um, if you're interested in attending, we've got all that information
on our website. And the photo here on the screen is of a FedEx rock parked in one of our dedicated alcohol. All right, shifting over to uh hot
topics within station accessibility. This is a photo of a recently renovated station actually out in Chelsea. uh where we've now got full high level platforms and redundant accessible
passive travel. So given the audience tonight, I figured it would make sense to focus on the green lines. Um we are also doing a ton of work on our commuter rail, although none of the
stations in that pipeline are located within the city. So, um I think the green line will likely be of most interest today. Um I should note although they're not located in Boston, we did just at the beginning of this
year upgrade four inaccessible stops on the B the branch um that allow riders to get on and off ourh trolleys accessibly. Uh but we're but what we're most
thrilled to share is that uh really over the next two years, but certainly over the next five years, all of the inaccessible stops on the C and B branches are going to be resolved.
And uh towards the end of that 5year mark, all of the ebranch uh inaccessible stations are going to be resolved, which this is thanks to years of coordination with both with both Boston and Brooklyn.
Um it's taken a lot of coordination because we've essentially had to take part of the travel lane on both comm uh in Beacon Street so that we can widen those stops, many of which are only
about two to three feet wide today. So um C branch is going to go out first. We're likely going to start construction this October, but uh the B branch is going to follow right behind.
And although this station is very different than the others I just mentioned, but I think everyone's aware that Symphony Station is about to move into construction. We're just figuring out some of the timelines as we speak, but we're going
to end up with an absolutely beautiful accessible station with redundant elevators. Again, fully accessible platforms. On the right here is a a rendering of what a portion of that station will look like
when it's completed with the hypnosis at street level. All right. So, if you look at all that green line work taken together, um, here we are today in 2025. Believe it or not, we still have 25
inaccessible green line stations. But thanks to all the work I just mentioned, by the time we get to 2030, we're projecting that there will only be two inaccessible green line stations
left. Um, and those include Hines and Bo, which I'm happy to talk more about later if anyone's interested. All right. Again, I'd be remiss if I did not mention the new green line trallies as I was talking about all of these
green line improvements. So, um, our new green line type 10 car is, uh, well on its way to becoming a reality. In fact, we're going to be getting the first pilot car uh, this
coming spring. So, we'll all be able to actually get on and take some rides on the new pilot car uh this time next year. The car is 100% low floor with a much more modernized
passenger information system. Eventually, thanks to the fact that this will be a fully low floor vehicle, we'll eventually be able to go back and further renovate green line stations to raise the platforms
so that there's level boarding very similar to what we have on the the red, orange, and blue lines today. And on the left here is a photo of the mockup that was in town last October.
All right. So, I I this is a fairly new graph for our team that I try to show off whatever we can. Um, but I did want to just throw this in here because when you when you take a look at all of the work
that's happening on the green light over the next 5 years and then take a look at all of the work that's happening on the commuter rail to address some inaccessible stations. Um, it's pretty exciting. Um, so this is a line graph
that shows that back in 1990 when the ADA was first passed, we only had 21 only 21% of our stations were accessible. But fast forward to today, 83% are
accessible, which certainly is a is a lot better. But the thing we're most pumped about is that within just the next 5 years, that number is going to jump up to 93%.
Um, I do want to acknowledge that there's a big difference between 93% and 100%. So, we're not getting ready to take a breath yet. Um we know that even when we get to that point in time,
we have some huge barriers to remove. Um and that includes stations like science and boil also vooden on the blue line. Uh and then certainly as those are of you who use the subway
regularly know we've got a lot of stations that are usable today but that there's they're far from ideal. Um whether it's the size of the elevators at Chinatown or Davis Square or the fact that that
ramping structure at JFK is so long, we know that eventually we want to go back and make major major changes to those big stations. And that we've got all sorts of what I would describe as smaller issues but
still very real ones like the fact that we still have very noticeable vertical gaps throughout the southwest quarter and the orange line. Um and our long-term goals of going to level boarding on the green line.
All right. Um, and while we're talking about station accessibility, I just want to zoom in on elevators specifically. And here's an image of one of our newest elevators at Winchester Center Station.
Um, and this this is a chart depicting our elevator up time. Something that we've been very very proud of. Although want to acknowledge here that we had a major drop in reliability back in 2022
largely due to some residual supply chain challenges coming out of CO um but that we are back up to what we consider to be uh our benchmark of 99.4 for and working
really hard to maintain that and or keep that going going forward. Um, but one of the ways that we improve uptime is making sure that we're modernizing
units and while we're at it trying to build in redundancy wherever we can. So, one project that I know is of particular interest to this script, we talked about it a couple years ago, is
uh currently at Jackson Square. We are under construction to fully modernize the existing unit and to re and to construct a brand new elevator so that by the summer of 2027 we'll have two
fully new elevators there to serve the station. Um while we're there, we're also doing some really major majorly creative things to address the vertical gaps that I just mentioned. Um,
so that's going to be a big big step forward as well. We're doing something similar in Central Square, but I'm going to skip that and focus in on the other big Boston project is the enormous undertaking of
making the connection between the red and orange lines at downtown crossing toy accessible. Uh, it's finally happening. We are expecting to have the notice to proceed
with construction by the end of this year, meaning that crews would start mobilizing likely late spring next summer. Um, and this will be a long project given that we can't take
downtown crossing out of service. So, it will be a bit of a chaotic experience out in there. Um, but we're working to make sure all of that phasing uh works for everybody. But at the end of this, we're finally going to have an
accessible connection, which has been a very long time coming. And on the screen here is a photo of the rendering for the new new unit that will be located at Jackson Square. All right. So, one really, really cool
thing, uh, two cool things that have happened over the last year related to elevators. Uh, we certainly know that no matter how many new elevators we have, and no matter how well teamed they are, they're still going to go out of service every
once in a while. And we all need to know when that is so we can plan accordingly. Um, two things that have happened out of our technology department. First is that there have been a bunch of
new large format digital screens deployed into our prefer lobby areas. Um, these screens also have an audio feature, so they're fully accessible. And on these screens, you can get all sorts of service information,
including elevator uptime and elevator outage information. Um, in addition to that, earlier this year, we released our first official uh MBTA Go app for both the Apple and
uh Android users. Um, so if you're not using it, definitely check it out. It provides all sorts of information from when your train is arriving to where your bus stop's located to if an elevator is out of service. And the team
is going to be adding in all sorts of new and interesting functionality over the coming months and years. And on the screen, we've got a photo of somebody using that app along with this screenshot of the app.
All right. Here's where I pause to just sort of acknowledge that we we know that foot accessibility is a lot more than raised platforms and elevators.
And so with that in mind, there's a lot of initiatives underway to make sure that we're centering our customers in all sorts of ways. And on the screen is one of our transit ambassadors helping out uh uh when all wheelchair
uses are in our system. So Nicole introduced herself at the start of the meeting. Um Nicole has recently joined us. One of her primary roles within the team is helping us build out and design
even better, even more trainings for frontline employees. anybody that might might have a role in making the system accessible for for folks. Just last year, we issued a developed a training
for our operations control center which was really cool. It's sort of the nerve center of the MBTA. And uh one thing that she and Rob Simpson from our team is working on as we speak is our first ever
accessibility training specific for transit police officers. Um, just as with our bus and subway trainings, all of these trainings include a lot of firstperson perspectives from customers
with disabilities, which is really essential. And the photo on the screen is of one of our one of the trainers from our training school instructing a group of new post operators.
All right. Um, I'm trying to think the best way to introduce this. This is an initiative that we've been dreaming up essentially for the last 15 years. Um, when the
spare gates that we have in the system today were first introduced in the early 2000s, one piece of feedback the MBTA received right away was wait a second. Why why do I have to tap
my card to activate the gate when on the highway on the Pike I've got this easy pass technology? Why can't we do an easy press solution for fairgates?
And the answer for 18 years has been well that technology does not exist. Um and I'm here to say that it's coming. So about five years ago, we started working
to build the requirement into another contract for a fair company to essentially invent this solution. And so we've been working with them ever since to develop this
system where if you're wearing a confidential either on a lanyard or um or you can post it or adhere it to part of your wheelchair or or clothing that as you approach the accessible fair
gate the gate opens automatically. Um, we are in the process of testing these gates in the field. There's about 13 located throughout the system as we speak. It probably will not be until about
another year next summer until these are widely open for public use, but we're feeling really really good about this and can't wait until we're ready to to really show this off. But the gifty
on your left there is yours truly. Getting to experience it for the first time. I think in that in that um moment I had the uh the special Charlie card on
a lanyard around my neck. All right. And then speaking of cool technology, we just also wrapped up some very serious testing of accessible way finding technology called Naval. This is
a solution that uses these brightly colored QR codes to provide information um on how to navigate an indoor or outdoor environment. So with this effort, we're trying to
solve the challenge of how does somebody who's blind or have low vision navigate complex indoor NBTA stations and or find best stops.
So um our technology team just did three months of extensive user testing. they are pulling together their recommendations as we speak and I I expect that uh by the end of the summer or in the early
fall we'll be announcing the next phase of this project. All right. I also this this here is not a new initiative but I wanted to make sure uh we mentioned this because we're joined tonight by Glenda Campbell um who
is the senior project coordinator overseeing this effort but uh for those that are not aware uh Glenda and our team oversee a secret shopper for the program for the MBTA specific f specifically focused on
accessibility. Uh at any point in time, we've got multiple teams of writers out there closing as customers, collecting data on how our operators
are doing in terms of complying with all of our rules and training. On average, we monitor over a thousand trips a quarter and we get all sorts of really really detailed reports that help us inform
decisions and take action as needed. And I think as we know this year, we're going to be thinking about ways that we can ask our monitors to assess other things throughout our system um and station.
And this photo here is of one of our monitors. Although please don't uh reveal his undercover status uh being secured by a bus stop. All right, as we start to wrap up here,
this is a huge effort that we never take for granted and that is an ongoing goal of expanding our outreach and doing better and deeper engagements. So, um we now uh have a mobility center
at the MBTA which is currently located at a thousand miles south. It's actually going to be moving to Quincy next year. And at that center, we have uh that's not only where you go to sign up for the ride if you're interested,
but we also have a number of professional trainers that uh work to make sure riders have confidence in using the system. Uh and they also go out and do all sorts of outreach events along with staff from
our team. So, there's a lot of work happening uh to just be out in the public as much as possible to make sure folks are aware of all the improvements that I've just been mentioning, but also even more importantly
to hear how we're doing and take that feedback back back to the office. And on the right is a collage of photos of all sorts of different events that we've hosted or been invited to over the
last year. All right, I wanted to end here with with um a particularly important topic that to be honest we need your help with. um and that is
all sorts of efforts to improve the way we're communicating and engaging with cities and towns. Uh not surprisingly, we really need Boston and Cambridge and all the other cities we serve to do
certain things in order to make sure that our bus stops and our stations are accessible. Two of the biggest are making sure that snow removal happens reliably and accessibly and making sure that when
bike lanes are being designed adjacent to bus stops in particular that the cities are reaching out to the MBTA to coordinate on design so that we're not inadvertently introducing new barriers.
Excuse me. So, this is something we just need to keep working on because we really rely on each other. All right, my timing is good because I am ready to wrap up here. I really just wanted to say thank you
more than anything. This is a photo from the 35th anniversary marching rally. We had such a great time and we're really proud to be out there working with all of you to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility.
So I will stop here and take any questions. Thank you Laura and team and thank you for your uh efforts on on um making um making the team more accessible. It's amazing that um in just a few short
years we're we're going to have uh hopefully 93% um accessible uh uh systems. So, um, just I wanted to open it up for, uh, any questions from members of the board. Did
do you have any questions for Laura and her team? >> Jerry, this is Andrea. I see Wes has his hand. Oh, and then I saw Carl unmuted. >> Sure. Go ahead, Wes. Hi, good evening everybody. Thank you
Laura for your presentation. It was it's really exciting to see what's coming some of these changes that are coming with the MBTA within 5 years. So congratulations on the hard work that you all have been doing uh over the past several years. And I do have a question
about the new elevators. I know that you had mentioned that uh in some areas the new elevators um um I just wanted to clarify about the new elevators. I'm wondering if they're going to have some clear light, clear glass um so that you can actually make
it more visible for people who are actually in the elevator to see what's happening outside the elevator and see people in the elevator. Because if someone's stuck in the elevator, you want to make sure that people can see that you're stuck and and can actually call for help and ensure that someone will come help you.
Yeah, that is a great question. Uh, and the answer is absolutely. Our new elevator standard, which was developed back in 2009, requires that for all new elevators
or elevators that are being fully modernized like a Jackson that there be as much glass and transparency as possible. So you'll see in a lot of our newer units that there
is a lot of transparency through that door that the elevator door as well as on all three other sides of the cap. You're absolutely right that not only does it
allow us to uh see somebody who may have gotten stuck, it's also just really comforting as a rider. If you're right, you know, if you're waiting for the elevator to arrive at your floor level, you can see whether or not there's
anyone in there in advance. And just for a sense of personal security, know you don't know what's on the other side of the door before it opens. So we consider that to be a huge safety uh safety requirement as well as just
good better customer experience. >> Great. Thank you. Go ahead, Carl. >> So hello Laura, hello members of the systemwide access team. First of all, I want to commend you on on all the hard work that you guys are doing, and I know
how hard it is to do accessibility on um an old architectural platform, if you will. My question is this, the ride the par transit program doesn't necessarily fall under paratransit. Is that correct? I
mean, the ride program doesn't necessarily fall under systemwide access. Is that correct? That is correct, Carl. So, technically speaking, our team is responsible for what we call the fixed route system, which is everything except per transit
service, but we certainly do work closely with Michelle Styler and her team at the right. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And Zary, I see that you have your hand up.
Thank you and thank you Laura. This is great. Um my question is about um evacuation plans in case of emergency. We recently saw what had happened in New
York, the train transit system, and I kept thinking, wow, if this was in the middle of a tunnel, how would someone, you know, uh be taken care of? So, is
there a I'm sure there's a plan, but is there something that you could share with us? Sure. So, emergency response and preparedness is something we've been working on for a
long time now. say roughly 10 years ago, we rolled out a training program specifically focused on how to assist folks who may need additional assistance during an emergency,
including an evacuation. Um, and since that point in time, we've we've added details to those guidelines and sort of taken those taken pieces of that training and
integrated it into training for bus operators, subway operators, and basically every job category at the MPTA. Um I'm happy at any point to share all the
details on that training, but um a few things to be aware of. We emphasize the fact that people with different disabilities are going to need different types of assistance and we work to provide
guidance on how that might play out in various emergency scenarios. Um we also at least twice a year there is a fullcale emergency drill that is coordinated
between the MBTA mascot and at least one or two local cities and towns. In fact, we're getting ready to do a big drill later this summer uh on the blue line. And as part of each
of those drills, we invite people with real disabilities to come in and be participants. And my staff also participates to evaluate how the team
does during the drill in terms of following all the trainings and guidelines. Um, as I'm sure many folks here saw on the news just a few weeks ago, there was a very scary situation where
we had to take a train in the Blue Line on the Blue Line out of service right while I was under the Boston Harbor in between Aquar and the Maverick stations because there were some down cables in
the tunnel. uh over 450 people had to be evacuated. What you might not have heard is that at least a couple people on that train had temporary disabilities and they were
not able to walk through the tunnel on their own. What was wonderful to see after the fact that was that thanks to all of the training that's been pulled together, the first responders had access
to specialized equipment that allowed them to deploy what's called a Nolan cart, which basically is a a platform that sits right on top of the tracks. And they're able to power that platform
down down the tunnel without any without any third rail access so that they can assist people who need the help onto the platform and then
transport them to the point of exit and then help them out from there. So, it was really great to see in this real life scenario that certainly nobody wanted to happen that
the equipment that we have and the training that we put together actually played out in the appropriate way. So, again, I'd be happy to talk at a later point and sort of more of those details, but yeah, definitely something we think
about a lot. >> Thank you, >> Tara. I know that you have your hand up. >> Hi, Laura. I just wanted to take a minute to thank both you and your team um because an um at the Jackson Square
Station um train station that one of the ambassadors came up to me a couple weeks ago and had a conversation with me explaining all the changes and stuff that I was going to be seeing um at the station. And I had no idea about them even though I'm a frequent visitor. So I
wanted to thank you on that. And then my my question is, is there any discussion on the vertical gap for Roxberry crossing? Okay. Um so the short answer is we don't
have a short-term solution for Roxberry. We do have projects underway at Jackson, at rurals, and there will likely be one happening at Forest Hills
within the next several months. Um, what we've been trying to do at some of these more complicated orange line stations is figure out creative ways to solve the vertical gap.
That doesn't require completely dismantling the entire platform or digging up the entire track bed because in many ways due to the age of the station that's what it would take to get it done
correctly. So what we're doing at Jackson is we're experimenting with a new platform overlay um and making some track adjustments. We're going to be doing the same thing at Ruckles. And at Forest Hills, we're
trying out a different experiment where we're going to be uh installing a different type of track that's a little less high. If that's a success, that's something we may be able to roll
out more easily at other stations like Roxberry and Green Street and other stations along the southwest corridor, but at the moment we don't have any immediate solutions for Roxberry crossing.
>> Great question. Uh great questions everyone. Uh, do we have any other questions of Flora and her team? Andrea, did I miss anybody? This is Andrea. I don't see any other hands up. Um, but I just want to say one
thing um that I've definitely used is uh the contact us form on the TE's website to mention both when bus drivers don't pull all the way to the curb and when they do a really good job pulling all the way to the curb uh because I know complimenting our bus drivers is a is a
good way to reinforce that positive behavior. Um Laura, I don't know if you want to say anything about how those um like contact us forms get routed to your office. Yeah, that's a great question, Andrea, and something I I really
should include uh at the end of every presentation. So, we definitely if anything in the system does not go well, uh or if something goes really well and you want to talk to us about it, there's two good ways to let us know. Um
the first is uh what Adrian mentioned is on our website. If you go to mbta.com at the top of the screen, you'll see a link to quote unquote contact us and if you navigate
to the uh submit feedback link, there's a form now that that you can fill out. If you uh if the complaint is anything related to accessibility, um my team gets a copy of it. And what
we do, Lisa Weber, who many of you know in particular, she will work with the appropriating area, whether it's bus operations or subway operations to make sure there's a full investigation and that appropriate action is taken.
And just as importantly, that you get a response back. Uh if you don't want to use our website or don't have access to it, another great way is by calling our call center which is 2223200.
Basically goes to the same database and it's the same process. If it's accessibility related, Lisa will get a copy and make sure that it's handled appropriately. >> Great. And I see Wes, you had a Do you want to share your comment? I know you
put something in the chat. Do you want to share your comment or just direct folks to the chat? >> This is Wes. Um, you can go ahead and read if you like. >> Oh, you want me to read it? Okay. Um, I
actually Okay. This is Wes. I actually thought about about that the other day as a bus was turning around a corner that had a visible green light for pedestrian to walk but did not know where to find the form to file a complaint and that bus driver almost hit
me. Um that's the end of the comment. >> Yeah. So that that's definitely something if if anything on the system happens that you feel should not have or you've got a question about it, we'd always ask you to air on the side
of letting us know so that we can follow up and try to make sure that that that doesn't happen again. So, Wes, are you saying you don't know where the the the um the form is uh to file a a comment or or complain or
accommodation? And Andrea sent in the chat u uh Andrea shared in the chat a link to the um contact us area of the uh MVTA website where you can put your the specific
information uh on there. Again, if you mark um an accessibility concern, um someone from Laura Lisa and or the appropriate folks from Lauren's office will work with that uh that bus
operations or whatever mode uh the issue was uh so that you get a proper response. >> Do you see that um do you see that link in the uh chat, Wes? This is Wes. I see it. Yep. Thanks very much. We'll fill it out. Great.
>> And uh I'll make sure it gets sent in. Thanks very much. >> Awesome. Great. And uh I know from personal experience, you can attach um a photo or or any supporting uh documentation along with your uh w with
your issues. So um >> perfect. Okay, thank you. >> Well, again, thank you Lauren and thank you team. Uh it was great sharing uh sharing um ADA with you guys and it's
amazing to see how many team members uh team members and and colleagues, co-workers you had uh participating in the event. And it was I mean I think it it goes to show how far we've come uh
you know that the general manager uh general manager ing uh you know was a featured speaker at the event uh as well and I I really appreciate that and again just goes to to your hard work and the hard work of your of your team to make
accessibility >> great and again thank you to everybody here for uh the success of and sher cherry the work that you and all the other folks who are part of our tag and all the other informal means of
advocating for accessibility at the team um we would not be there without that so right back at you. >> Sure. So and we and we'll keep advocating you know that. So uh so that's great. Thank thank you everyone. Really >> all right have a great night everybody.
>> Bye now. Uh, next on the agenda, I believe is my report. Um, and I just had again I wanted to um, and I'm sure the commissioner is probably going to u going to touch on this too, but I wanted
to um, say uh, publicly and formally that uh, that I thought the uh, ADA event was a huge success. Um, it was great to be a part of 1,400 uh other advocates and allies for for uh
people with disabilities. You know, there was a really really palpable uh energy to the event and and uh it was just really really uh energizing um and heartening to to to be uh you know with
the with the community in that way and and uh and have our voices heard loud and and proud. And uh you know I want to thank the commissioner and the Andrea and and uh you know and everyone on the team that helped coordinate and and make
it happen. And also you know just everybody at city hall for for you know making the the event such a success from the from the city um uh perspective. I know, you know, getting permits and and
you know, helping uh helping, you know, shut streets down and Tmont Street. I know, you know, it must have taken a tremendous amount of work. So, I really really, you know, want to, you know, just say thank you uh thank you for for
that and uh you know, here's to many more uh successful uh AD80s in the future. It's it's always one of a day that I look forward to, but definitely the 35th I I will not uh forget anytime
soon. So, thank you u very much uh for that. Um and uh with that, we'll move on to the commissioner's report. >> Thanks, Jerry. Um Andrea has my slides, so I think she'll pull them up for me.
Um, she had to walk away. I'm going to try to find them as quickly as I can. >> Oh, okay. >> It's giving me a 400 error message. >> Uh, did you hear that? >> Well, um, I can actually jump in because the first item is ADA 35.
So, to follow up on Jerry's comments, I um and also Laura's wonderful picture, we had 1,400 people attend from over 60 organizations and I think I saw all the board members who were in this meeting at the event. I know I saw Paul, Tara, I
saw Carl, I saw Jerry, I saw Zaryi, um I think Wes and Pette, you were there as well. And then, um other board members who may not be here tonight. um some probably attended. So really appreciate the turnout and the support from our board. Uh it was a really positive and
uplifting event, especially during these troubled times that we find ourselves in. So we we were um really pleasantly surprised to see how many people made it to City Hall Plaza. Um the picture from Laura shows you all the people just from the tea who were there. So there were hundreds and hundreds if not over a
thousand people on the plaza. And then we did the march along Tremont Street all the way to the rally at the Embrace Memorial. So wonderful turnout, wonderful event. Thank you all. Again, there's tons of pictures online. If you click on the link that is on my slide deck, you'll see some more pictures and
videos. Uh the next event I wanted to talk about was Beach Ability. That is um an event that's held every year. Oh, here's Andrea. I have it ready.
>> She'll be sharing my slide deck. So, I attended the Beach Abilities event uh last Saturday. It was held at Constitution Beach in East Boston. It's hosted by um Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, and Triangle is the main uh person
that brings people with disabilities. They're the main group. and they had um dozens of people there who tried out sand and water wheelchairs, accessible kaying, um adaptive games, there was food, music, lots of activities. So, it was a
really fun day. And DCR provides sand and water wheelchairs across their beaches across the state. They also have a really strong universal access program in state parks as well as beaches. So, I would encourage everyone to look on their website. Um, also other
municipalities around the state have beach wheelchairs that you can get. So, if you're interested in one, I would encourage you to contact your local town or look on DCR's uh website for more information. Colleen is still working on her disability commission library tour at
the branches throughout the city. Um, Colleen, I know you're on. Would you want to give a real quick overview of the events you've held so far and any upcoming ones? I just want to get a drink of water. >> Uh yes. Okay. Sorry. Um so the goal is
that we're going to visit every branch library in 2025. Uh we visited about half and in September we have um we're anticipating we're going to have five visits. Three are already scheduled. Three and a half.
So we're going to be going to the Grove Hall Library in September. We're going to be going to Chinatown, Codman Square, and Egleston. Um, and some of them are going to actually be piggybacking off of housing clinics that the Office of Housing
Stability is holding at the library. So, especially for those visits, if you know people, cuz I know people in the disability community often have a lot of questions about housing and are looking for those resources, um please send them my way because I can make sure um they know about the ones that are going to be
held at the library on the same day we'll be having the disability outreach tour. Thanks. Great. Thanks, Colleen. Um, and then one other thing just as an update from our department is again I've mentioned this before, but we do a monthly call with other disability commissions across the
state, many in the great greater Boston area to talk about best practices and challenges. So, it's mainly made up of board members and commissioners from other cities and towns. It's not usually staff, but from our department, um, our staff attend, but we'd love to have some
advisory me board members um, attend if they're available. I know a few of you have expressed interest. So, please um if you have time, we'd love for you to go. We'll go to the next slide. So, I wanted to give some um information
on opportunities for board members to get involved in different uh city projects. So, there are two important city council hearings coming up in the next few weeks. One is next week. It's a hearing on accessibility and safety of sidewalks. It's next Wednesday, August
13th at 10 a.m. It's in Boston City Hall. Um, it will be held in person, but you can also watch um you can live stream it on TV online, and you can um participate virtually if you want to give testimony. So, this first one on
accessibility and safety of sidewalks is going to look at um how the city's doing as far as the u curb ramp program that we're working on. Um how we handle complaints, how we resolve issues, and what some of the barriers are. So, if anyone's interested in watching, you can
tune in to the live stream or if you want to participate virtually, um you can contact the um contact person in the bottom section of the slide, shane lacboston.gov. uh the web sorry the email address is shane.pacfom.gov
and you can provide your testimony that way. You can also um join virtually that way. I'm sorry I'm feeling a little on the weather. Um the other city council hearing coming up is on accessibility in Boston City Hall and
that's looking at the interior mezzanine stairs which are challenging. We did just have a platform lift installed there three years ago. So, it is more accessible now, but it still has a lot of challenges. So, some different things that we're going to talk about during that hearing. I've been asked to be on
the panel for both of these hearings. So, I'll be speaking, but certainly welcome anyone on the board and members of the public to attend as well. Um, that one is September 11th at 2 p.m. So, please uh join and offer testimony if you're interested.
and we'll go to the next slide which I think that's it. I had a short report this month. So any questions? Um I'm happy to answer. >> Let's see. Oh, um uh Wesley, please. Uh you have your hand up.
>> Yes, I do have a question about the uh the hearing. for the sidewalks. Can you tell me will that also impact uh the blue bike um docking stations? Will that be on the agenda there? So,
blue bikes are specifically on the agenda that I've seen. Um and the hearing notice is included in the links. Um but certainly blue bikes are an issue on sidewalks. So, um, we know there've been reports, you know, in the news
about, um, sidewalk safety, including electric bikes and, uh, Blue Bikes do have some electric bikes, uh, for rent. So, and also the location of the stations on sidewalks is something we pay attention to. So, if you wanted to give input on bikes, you could certainly
do that uh, in regards to sidewalks, but it's not specifically on the agenda. Um, that doesn't mean that people who come live to the chamber can't ask questions about it. Um, it's just not something that is specifically listed as being part of the hearing. >> Okay. Sure. I'm going to give that some
thought. Um, if there's anything else, so what I might actually do is send an email with my thoughts. >> That's great. >> Paula, did I see you raise your hand? So, did we have the focus group that some of us participated in this past
month or was it >> last month? >> The focus group on um the planning department. >> Yes. >> Yes, that was this past month. >> Oh. >> Um I should have put that in my um my report. So, thank you. I can talk
briefly about that. Um can I just ask if anyone has any further questions on what I've said so far just before we move on? No. Okay. So, um the planning department did host a focus group for people with disabilities to get input on ways that
they can um increase engagement of the disability community for our projects. And again, this is something that I talk about at many meetings. There are so many ways that you can give input on new developments. You can attend community meetings. you can um provide written or
um verbal input at the hearings um at the community meetings and we know that development across Boston is booming not only downtown but in the neighborhoods. So if there's anything popping up in your neighborhood that you see a construction site about you're curious about you can always email us and find out the address and ways you can get
involved. So the planning department also has a a very systematic way of looking at projects and assessing them and it includes all these things I just talked about like community meetings and ways to give input and they really wanted to get people with disabilities
involved in this um system. So they held a focus group to see like how they could better reach the disability community. Um, I wasn't able to attend, but Colleen and Andrea went and I know they said I think six people from the community were there, including at least one board member, if not two. I don't know if
Andrea or Con want to give any um overview of the meeting. >> This is Andrea. Uh, Pette was one of our attendees, so I might kick it to her to uh give her impressions of how the focus group went. Well, I thought it was interesting that
um that we were included in that discussion because I I think that sometimes when uh projects are going forward, by the time they bring it to the community, they've already made up their mind about how it's going to roll
out. And I think that that's some of the reason that we don't get as much community participation. So, I appreciated um being part of that discussion. so that they could think about some of the things that we mentioned to them moving forward.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for that input, um, Pette, and I will definitely agree with you that, um, I know the community feels like by the time they're asked for input, decisions already been made. I completely agree with that. In reality, there is really still a lot of time to
make changes um after community meetings and certainly my office is involved from the beginning. Sarah and Patricia go to these meetings before a shovel isn't put in the ground. Um when they're just at the beginning of design, we give a lot of input. But having the community back
us up is so important because they'll listen to us because we're staff and they have to listen to us and we have to say these things, but when they hear from the community that how it's really going to impact your life, they have to pay attention to that and we really believe they do. So the more input we get from community members, um, the more
impactful it's going to be on these projects. So thank you for making the time to attend. And I believe Richard also attended from the board. >> Yes, I think so. Commissioner, I just have a followup. Um, is it uh I'm glad
they had a focus group. Is there going to be a final report? I mean, this is Jerry, by the way. I'm sorry to not identify myself, but is there going to be a report or next steps after the focus group? >> So, the article 80 process is undergoing a whole revision. So, this was just one
piece of it. They're trying to like make it um more user friendly, easier to understand, and try to, you know, improve the whole process. which is a very old process that's been existing for a while. So I know when that is completed there'll be final reports, but how do you leave it at the end of the
meeting, Andrea? >> Yeah, this is Andrea. Um, so this was one of a series of focus groups that they've done. I believe it's uh if not the last, one of the last ones. Um, they've met with community groups, they
did a youth focused one with high schoolers, you know, all all kinds of things. Um my understanding is that what will come out is a new um standard operating procedure for engagement. So I
don't think it'll take the form of a report so much as a published guide for developers saying here are the steps that you must take um if you're going to you know submit a development to the
article 80 review process. here are the community engagement steps that you're required to take as a proponent of a project. Um, so my understanding is it will be a public document. So we as residents and developers are all on the
same page to know that a developer is required to do if not every one of these steps. I think a menu like you can pick two of five or whatever. Um but the idea is that it will create a publicly transparent list of expectations for
what developers have to do as part of that process. >> Great. Thank you for that clarification and thank you uh for everyone who participated. Any other questions from the commissioner for the commissioner before
we move on? Seeing none, I will move on with the agenda. And I believe the next uh item on the agenda is the architectural access report with Patricia Mendes. So go ahead, Patricia.
>> Thank you so much, Jerry. Hello everyone. My name is Patricia Mendes. I'm the director of architectural access for the Disabilities Commission. Um, I have short dark hair and glasses and I'm
wearing a a white t-shirt. Uh, today in my report, I'm going to briefly talk about Downtown Crossing. More specifically, I'm going to talk about Temple Place.
Uh recently we received a report of some areas of the sidewalk that needed repairs and that came in in the form of a complaint to the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board.
Uh Temple Place is the head the the the street is houses the headquarters for BCIL, Boston Center for Independent Living and therefore there is a a lot of
constituents with disabilities that use that street. So the existing sidewalk conditions you know present some unique challenges that uh I want to talk about. Um some of them
is that um there are several jurisdictions in this block and the sidewalks are owned by multiple parties including the city of Boston, the MBTA and private property owners.
The sidewalk also has different kind of materials which have deteriorated and need repair. Some of the materials are concrete, brick, granite, asphalt, and even metal grates.
Underground there is a bunch of things. There are electrical vaults. There are invite tunnels. And there are areaways. Areaways are old basements of adjacent
buildings that extend under the public right away. So under the sidewalk and they are owned by private property owners, which makes your repair very difficult for the city because of their
property under there. Uh, and I'm we're gonna show a short videos just about what the areaways are. Um, but first I'm going to finish talking about Temple Place and and the
repairs and then we're going to play the video if that's okay. Um so after we received the complaint about repairs needed for Temple Place, uh our commission and the street cabinet um got together, had a conversation, and
then the street cabinet sent crews right away to conduct repairs to address the issues flagged in the formal MAB complaint. Um, we received photos of the before and we received photos of the
after after the sidewalk received the repairs. And I'm going to show that in the next slide. Um, and I also want to share the longterm solution. So, the small concrete repairs that I'm going to
show in the picture, those are the short-term solutions. And the long-term solution is that the street cabinet is planning a capital improvement project that includes a bunch of streets in the downtown crossing and that includes
Temple Place, Bronfield Street, School Street, Washington Street, and a handful of other streets in in the other side of Washington Street. And this project is in the early stages. So the the early
stage is called the concept design phase. Next slide please. Okay. Uh this is Temple's Place short-term repairs. The before and after. On the
left, we have a picture of the before showing the side, the concrete sidewalk with some deterioration on the concrete. And it also shows a piece of the pedestrian crossing with
the white markings and also a metal metal grate that looks like a a drain and also some deteriorated concrete between the metal grate and the
sidewalk. The next picture in the middle is one of the after photos and it's showing uh the concrete repairs on the concrete sidewalk.
And the next photo on the right is also an after photo and it shows the concrete repairs along the sidewalk of Temple Place. Okay. Now we should go back one slide
and watch this mo the short video on areaways. >> This is Andrea. Apologies. The sound is not playing. So, give me one second to figure that out. >> Okay, there we go. Okay, I figured it out.
Let's see if this works. >> Getting around Boston, you might actually be above someone's basement. We call these hollow sidewalks areaways. Unlike with regular sidewalks, the city cannot repair areaway sidewalks without collaborating closely with building
owners. It's vital that we do because they have become some of the least accessible sidewalks in the city. Some are hard to miss, like old pole holes, but others are difficult to spot.
Some area owners don't know they're there. Recently, we've been experimenting with ground penetrating radar, which detects voids underground via electromagnetic waves. Following this promising pilot, we will
create a more complete picture of Boston's underground, engage with owners, and begin repairing these neglected sidewalks. Yay. Thank you, Andrea. And that concludes the report for today.
And I'm happy to take questions on what I just talked about. >> Any Thank you, Patricia, very much. And uh and Andrea, did I hear a familiar voice in that video? This is Andrea. You have a sharp ear,
Jerry. You did. Some of those words were me. >> Great. Um, so, um, so I guess my question would be, um, would be what's the next step after the
video? Are you are there next steps? You know, >> this is Andrea. The next steps from that video um are at a couple different places across the city where we are now that we have the ground penetrating
radar and know there's an area away. Uh there is a whole bunch of meetings and conversations and bringing engineers together um to fix those areaways. Basically, there's a new process
internally at city hall to coordinate the like six different departments that need to be in touch with these property owners in order to actually fix the sidewalks. Um, and so Kingston and summer slash uh Otis and Summer Downtown
Crossing should be getting some repairs soon under this new process. And uh the reason Patricia brought them up, Temple Place um as well as School Street, also part of the downtown crossing reconstruction project. Also lots of areaways, including one that's three
stories deep. Um yeah, so there are lots of places downtown that should be getting repairs after probably decades of you all noticing that they need them. Um is really the next steps. >> Great. Thank you. um for that. Any
questions on u the architectural access uh access report from the uh from the um advisory board. Seeing none, I guess we'll say thank you to Patricia for always a very thorough
um report and thank you for thank you and Sarah and and the team for always looking out for our our interest at at the you know with these projects. Appreciate it. >> My pleasure, Terry. Thank you everyone.
>> Next on the agenda uh is the board member engagement uh shoutouts. This is the time where um we get to highlight either events we've been to um you know uh meetings we've attended or or just
the the work that we've done between last meeting and this one if if anyone has uh anything u >> go ahead Carol >> so there's a couple of things I've been working on one um the first thing is on
autonomous vehicles last week I attended the well two weeks ago now I attended the July 24th hearing at the Boston city hall in the city council chambers where they had a hearing on whether or not they should allow autonomous vehicles in
the city of Boston. I obviously was uh approaching it from yes it would be good for the disability community at large. I was a little disappointed on the how the hearing went because um they gave a large panel to the union.
They gave many of the union members unlimited time to testify. Then they broke for a a press conference where I sat in the city conference call alone waiting for them to come back so I could then testify. It was a little heavy and
planted and the city councilor made it very clear from the very beginning before even those of us with disabilities could testify that they weren't open that they weren't going to allow um autonomous vehicles because they're worried about losing union jobs.
So I thought so I have written to some of the city councilors asking them to keep an open mind. Yes, they should consider employment for unions, but it also they should consider employment for people with disabilities because the unemployment rate among the blind community is 70%, among the disability
community at large, it's anywhere between 30 and 40%. Autonomous vehicles would be a great way to lower that employment. I mean, we too want the same ability that everybody else does, which is to provide for our families. So, I
was a little disappointed. Um, I've written since then an op ed piece to the Boston Globe. I'm hoping it gets accepted. Um, so that that's one thing. So, and I'm hoping that someday I I approach Jerry and and the executive
team about potentially having Wayo come to just discuss how autonomous vehicles can help people with disabilities. I'm not asking the the advisory board to have an opinion or make a decision. You can certainly ask them all the questions you want. I'm just asking for the
advisory board to listen and maybe keep an open mind. Okay, that's one thing that um I' I've been doing. The second thing is lately, I don't know what's going on, but in the last 6 months, I've had several denials with um service
animals on shared transportation, mainly through the Uber Flex program, which means it's part of the ride program. I've been trying to figure out how to make sure that drivers are penalized for
violating our civil rights because it's both federal and state legislation. I haven't figured it out yet. I can't get the police to enforce a ticket. They don't have legal jurisdiction to do so. I can't get the MBTA to do it because they said that Uber won't share their information. I can't get Uber to do it
because they won't share the results of the investigation. I've filed complaints with MCAD. It's been 6 months. Uh, it's very ownorous. Now, I knew this would happen and I probably would not get anywhere even though we already have laws on the books saying this. It is
against the law and the driver can be fined $100 to $300, but I can't figure out who does it. I knew this would happen when I pursued this. So, I have filed complaint with MC. I will be mediating with and I sued both the T MBTA and the um and I'm not looking for
any financial matters. I've already turned down money that Uber offered me. I don't want a dime. I want them to change their policy that they'll share the names of the drivers or at least let us know that they've taken action. and and I'm also working with um state
senator Joan Lovely who's going to be filing some legislation on finding shared panic chasing drivers significantly and also changing the jurisdiction so that the police they're a little worried
about that one but they we've had Senate house Senate and House Council write the bill with with me and Senator Lovely to um change the rules that the police have jurisdiction. So if you call the police, they can come, they can find the ticket. So those are the two things that um I
have been working along with the other stuff I do. But those are two things of areas of interest I just wanted to bring to the attention of the um disability advisory board and commission. Thank you. >> Thank you, Carl. And I'm very u
disappointed to hear about the service animal refusal again. Um, you know, I know in wearing one of my other hats, um, involved with the writers transportation access group, I do did know that that they were, um, they had
like kind of a subgroup were, you know, working on this issue. And I've been uh you know at meetings myself with representatives from from Uber and Lyft where they said they you know take this uh matter very seriously and and
>> they do they have a deal so this they say they have a dental common policy but they won't share with you what they did. They say they'll investigate it and that's all they'll leave it at that. They said they can't share the results of the investigation. though I have no
other no idea of knowing whether they found K or did not find C. >> What can we do to to uh as a as a board to uh to support uh this issue and to to bring >> How about if I send the board the list
of the bills and and and going on from there? I I don't I'm still figuring Oh, the other thing you should know is I've hired Christine Griffin to represent um to be my consult when I do go to NCAD and talk to Uber and and and the MBTA to
um uh mediate. So that's the and those of you who don't know Christine Griffin, she was the former executive director of DLC and the former assistant secretary of health and human services under the Patrick administration that oversaw the disability cluster.
>> Great. Please let us uh you know please do forward those uh those bills and if we can write letters of support you know as a as an advisory board and as individuals uh you know I'm sure we would do that and and thank you uh thank
you for your advocacy on on uh on this issue and please keep us updated if there's new and different ways for us to to support you in this work as well. Um, I I heard that Olivia and Tara might
have um some things that they want to share. >> I know Olivia had her hand up first, but I'll give her the floor first >> if she's still here. >> I'm still here. Sorry. I've been having technical technical issues all night
with >> You're not the only Wi-Fi. Um, so I'll be doing a presentation to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership
on Disability Pride. It's part of their their lunch and learn um series on Wednesday the 20th of August. Um,
so that'll be fun. Um, a good chance to get out advocacy information, more about BCIL and and their activities and and just life as a as a person with a
disability in Boston. >> That's great, Olivia. Thank you so much for sharing. Um, Tara, would you like to go next? >> Sure. Um, hi, I'm Tara for those who don't know. Um, so aside from disability
advocacy, um, I also volunteer for the Department of Children and Family Services and last month which coordinated with ADA Day. Um, there was a training for us volunteers that focused on disability.
Um, which I was very excited to attend. Um and it was presented by the director of disability services for Massachusetts. So the whole state um and it was really interesting. Um so
Massachusetts is the first the first uh state to implement a disability policy in child welfare. Um, and they trained all of their social workers to both help assess as well as
provide accommodations. And not only did they speak largely about children with disabilities, but also with parents and dis with disabilities, which I thought was really cool because I know a lot who are and I
know the struggles that they can have um with DCF. Um, and there are many regions here in in Massachusetts and there is actually a disability specialist in
every single region. Um, so if anybody ever wants to know more, have any questions, um, I now have the contacts on who to reach out to. Um, but yeah, >> great. Thank you so much Tara for for
doing that uh important work with the um Department of Children and and Families and if if you want to u share more about what you do, please feel free to to to uh to do so at at future meetings. So
um any other uh uh any other uh interesting things that folks would like to share? Not going to put anyone on the spot. Um, hearing none, I guess we'll move to the next part of the agenda. Or seeing none,
Andrea. Right. No, no hands up that I'm missing. Right. >> That is correct. I am not seeing any other hands. >> Great. U Thank you. So, next on the agenda would be um old business. We have
two things under old business. the court captioning uh state bill. Uh um the specific uh item regarding that was whether to um whether to have the advisory board um uh uh write a letter
in support of of keeping u keeping the court reporters live and and not uh AI. um I based uh in that in that bill I guess there's a section of of the bill
that would would um that would um allow AI to to replace live court reporters um and we were going to take it up uh under uh old business this month. So uh Andrea, I don't know if you want to
share uh anything. I know we touched on it at a at a prior exec board meeting. Uh if you want to, you know, just just uh catch us up to speed again get on it and and we can talk about it. >> Absolutely. So, um this is a bill that
was brought to us by the Massachusetts State Court Reporters Association. Um it is a bill that uh raises the reimbursement rate for stenographers um up from where it currently has is which
is $3 per page where it's been from 1988. Um the bill's been introduced a few different times. Um, and one of the things that's also in the bill, uh, is taking out the word stenographer to
allow for different ways of transcribing audio recordings. Um so one of the concerns that the court reporters association brought to us uh is that the uh by stenographers have specific
training and official court reporters have specific training that uh the other people who might be allowed to do court reporting would not necessarily have um if this bill were to pass. Um, and the concern is that their concern is that
the quality of of the transcripts would be much poorer. Um, including some high-profile examples of people who had uh no access essentially to the transcript because there wasn't a human in the room that heard it and the like machine didn't pick it up.
>> You just get my text. Um, and so the machine that was recording in the room didn't pick up someone who was soft-spoken and there simply wasn't a transcript of that that day. Um, those types of issues are the ones that the court reporters
association feel um is is a huge uh potential challenge for folks who are are court involved. Um, so they reached out to the board requesting certainly support for the race, um, but keeping the words deenographer and the
requirement for a human court reporter um, as it currently is. Uh, and um did you did we clarify, Andrea, that if we support um if we support amending that language, uh that
wouldn't necessarily mean that we're we're um we're um voting uh to vote no on the asking to vote no on the bill because the the bill it the entire bill itself is around, you know, uh uh having
hybrid meetings inaccessible public meetings. Correct. >> So, um I'm not sure exactly what the requirements all are for courts as opposed to open public meetings. Um but yes, the board could certainly write
really anything in their letter about what they do or do not support related to this bill. Um again my understanding from the court reporters association is that they have written letters to legislators saying you know we partially
support this uh we support the raise but we have concerns about these other language and and we want you to eliminate or change these lines but not others. Um so that's certainly something you all could do as well is say we support this but not this. We want you
to have more hearings on this or you know whatever the case may be. >> Do we know what uh and Carl, you may know this, but do we know where the bill stands currently? >> That's what I was going to ask. I I've never looked at the text for the bill,
but if you give me the bill number, I can let you know in about 30 seconds. >> Uh I believe it is H1649. >> Got it. I'll mute myself and take a look. >> Uh and then Wes has his hand up, too. hand up. Wes has his hand up.
>> Go ahead, Wes. >> Yeah. Um I think thank you very much for the update on that. I think um at the last board meeting I had I addressed this issue or this question. I think the concern is that AI
um use with court reporting The question is about what is the role of a stenographer if AI is going to be um the method right court agencies don't specifically have they won't be able to give any
assistance to AI right so you need human assistance and so with this bill it doesn't the language in the bill doesn't seem clear about how that's going to um how that's going to all work So really, I think I support that complaint in general because the court
needs to be able to they want to have AI as a form of support, but also um so I think the court agencies are generally against or opposed to the idea of utilizing AI for these um these documents. >> Yeah. Again, let me pull up.
>> Court reporters themselves are against it. Yep. So, let me pull up one of the emails I got from the court reporters association. Um, so with a little background, the letter says, um, with the advance of audio
recording, official court reporters have been gradually replaced over the last several decades. And technically in 2018, official court reporters were terminated. Uh and the state created the office of transcription services to manage audio recordings, establish
protocols, recruit, vet, and hire approved court transcribers. Um and so there may not always be um a person in the room or sorry. Yeah. So they says we must deal with low audio,
soft spoken speakers, noise interruptions. We spend extra time researching case law and technical terminology. Um the existing 12 acts that are here in the state includes stenographers, voice writers, digital
reporters and legal transcriptionists. Um but I guess there is a company uh that is um trying to come into the state um that does not currently uh hear and they bring digital recorders. Um they
bring use speechtoext recognition to transcribe the events. Um not you know the people themselves. The transcribers themselves were not present at the event. um they don't keep track of they don't have like care custody and control of the audio and that's the concern.
It's not so much that AI itself is being considered um it's this concern that people who are not trained and certified uh would be allowed to come in with recorders and then you know send the recording off. >> So
>> just reiterating what I've been told. It looks like >> and this is Jess, if I could respond. The email doesn't specify how the reporters uh will address the um
this transition to this technology. >> This is Carl. Oh, Wes. Was that a question, Wes? This is This is Wes. That's my question. That's my my point is that it isn't addressed in the bill and that's my concern.
>> Okay. Point well taken. Carl, you had a you >> Yeah, it looks like there was a hearing back in April. I don't know what the result of what the finding was. probably hasn't been reported out of committee, but this bill has already been heard back in uh midappril.
So, if we do decide to do something, we have to do it sooner than later. >> Okay. >> I would support the pay increase. I would even support if we decide to do something the pay increase. I would even support the word the changing of the
word demographer. I worry about changing although it I worry about um I hear some of concerns how we're going to deal with the technology but usually that stuff isn't in the bill that that
stuff usually gets bills are very short and not too long usually and then that stuff gets worked out but I would certainly support the the pay increase because the fact that they haven't gotten a pay increase in almost 40 years is ridiculous and um
demographer does narrowly define what we think of and it it's gone much beyond that. So if the committee wants to do something, I would support those two things in the letter. >> Do you want to make a motion, Carl? >> I I want to I I I don't know that I want
to make a motion unless I feel like the rest of the commission is behind this. Do we have any other comments or questions or concerns from any member of the other members of the advisory board?
Well, I can go ahead and make a motion. We can see if a vote. Um, I make a motion that we do draft the letter, but that we keep it defined to the pay increase and changing the terminology so that it gives the writers
more flexibility. So supporting the uh supporting the what the court reporters association recommended and having having actual transcribers and whatnot. >> Well, h that's tricky because even I'm
using AI at the state house now. So um uh and even CNN and television network, it's not perfect and it's not as good as human caption writers. So it um Carl, just to clarify, one of the things
that the court reporters association has asked to to change about the bill is to keep certified in front of the word um transcriber or or stenographer. Um >> to use what again, Andrea? >> Certified.
Okay, that Okay, >> thank you Andrea. Thank you for clarifying that yet again. You you mentioned that earlier. Thank you. >> So, I heard a motion to write a letter supporting the increased reimbursement
rate and encouraging the legislature to keep the word certified in the law. Was that what you said, Carl? >> Is that correct? Yeah. Great. Any seconds to that motion? >> You need a second, I believe, for it to
move forward. >> This is Paul. I second the motion. >> Okay. All in favor of um writing the letter as stipulated in the motion? I >> I
Anybody else? >> Uh any Yes. >> Any names? >> This is Wes. Wes, I'm Wes is saying I'm abstaining. >> Okay. I was going to get to the >> other Yeah. I feel like the technology issues
are I don't know. It's just too complicated. So, I'm upstairs. >> Okay. Any other nays or abstensions? >> Hi, this is Zary. I'm abstaining as well.
>> Okay. Any uh any other comments? Olivia or Tara, you abstaining? >> I believe I heard eyes from both Olivia and Tara. >> Okay. How many? So uh
uh somebody tabulate those for me. Does the motion pass or not? >> This is Andrea. I count five eyes and two abstensions. >> So would that uh would that technically pass?
>> Yes, it would. >> Okay. I guess we'll uh I'll work with Andrea to uh to uh uh or the to draft a letter in support of the of the um court
reporters amendments to the legislation or the the letter in support of for the court reporters. Great. Thank you. And we had one other uh uh item under
new old business I should say is accessible trails for all. Again, Andrea, could you remind us uh what uh what that item was? >> Absolutely. This is Andrea. Um and this is an update from a coalition that
presented to you all um more than a year ago at this point. uh and you all wrote a letter in support of some proposed legislation that they titled the accessible trails for all bill. The bill uh proposed a number of things including
creating a task force to assess the accessibility of trails across the DCR or state park system. uh as well as dedicate some funding to making accessibility upgrades to those trails.
So, as you may Yep. >> the bill did not pass last term and which is why it has a new bill number this term. >> Yes. Thank you, Carl. Um one update that I believe I provided a few months ago was that the governor did appoint the
task force. Um she didn't require legislative authority to do so. She was able to create it. It is meeting. Um, yep. Uh, but the bill that would, uh, route additional funding has not yet
passed. Um, it was attempted to be added as an amendment to a larger funding bill called an environmental bond bill. Uh, but it did not get added. Um, and so they are once again this session trying to pass that bill. So they sent me that
update for you. on today. Andrea, >> I had it in front of me. Uh, >> no, but I will email you when I find it. >> So, do we need to basically we need to write another letter of support? Is that
what uh is that what it seems like? >> If you would like to. Yes. Uh any motions to uh to write a letter in support of accessible trails for all? >> I make the motion.
>> Any seconds? >> Second. >> Great. Um so, uh we have a motion on the floor. Um we'll vote on whether to write a letter of support in in favor of
accessible trails for all um with the new uh bill information bill information that either Andrea and or Carl can can get for us. Um >> that bill number, by the way, for the record, H915.
Okay, got it. >> Um, all in favor >> see I I support it. >> I from West. >> Great. Olivia. Sorry.
Tara, >> this is Olivia. I'm a >> Yes. >> Yes. Tara, you're you're >> Have you voted? >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. So, >> your vote.
>> And this bill has not been heard yet. >> So, I don't have to uh I I don't have to uh use my poor math skills or rely on Andrea's math skills. that that motion passes unanimously to uh write a uh uh
write a new letter of support in favor of the uh of the uh new bill for accessible trails for all which would create you know a funding source uh for it. Um thank you everyone.
Um, and uh, next on the agenda is uh, does anyone have any new business that they'd like to discuss? Andrea, I'm going to rely on your eyes again. >> I am not. >> I hope you're not relying on my eye, Jerry.
>> This is Andrea. I don't see any hands. Zoom hands or questions in the chat. >> Great. Uh, next on the agenda is public input. I know the the our meeting time is is getting short, but we do want to
leave leave, you know, an opportunity for the public to uh to participate in the meeting. Uh, again, Andrea, do we see any members of the public? >> This is Andrea. We do have one member folks may have seen. Um he's a a fellow
City of Boston staff member but attending in his personal position um as he has been for several months. So welcome Sean. Um but I'm not seeing any questions from Sean in the chat. >> Okay, great. Um and so next on the
agenda and uh glad Carl is here. Do would you like to make your motion Carl? >> I would love to. I want to go eat dinner. I make a motion to adjourn. >> Any seconds? >> Is this Paul? I second. >> All in favor?
>> I >> I >> I >> I >> And that and that passes again uh with a resounding uh uh Yes. So So again, I don't have to rely on my poor math
skills. So that's great. Thank you. >> Thanks everyone. >> Thanks everyone for attending. >> Recording stopped.