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The JJs List Blog

I Started Taking the Public Bus…

Posted by on January 27, 2017 - 1 Comment

…instead of Paratransit

By Alex Tello, No Boundaries Participant

Alex with timetable

Alex with timetable

I decided to start taking the public bus instead of Paratransit or a ride from my family because I knew I could learn and I wanted to be more independent.  It makes me happy!

Before I started using public transportation, I always used Paratransit to go to the Chicago Park District for Special Olympics.  My mom or my sister drove me to other places, like No Boundaries and the National Association for Down Syndrome (NADS) office where I volunteered.

To get ready to take public buses, Alex took the Pace-JJsList.com Hop on the Bus to Independence Workshop at No Boundaries, where he worked with Trainer Jenny Higgins to learn about bus times, bus service, public transportation vocabulary and to practice skills needed to take public transportation.  

Jenny and I looked at rtachicago.com and google maps on the Internet to find the best route.  We printed out the directions and stops for my trip on CTA bus 93 and the brown line to travel between home and the No Boundaries office.

It’s easy to ride the CTA busses and trains because it’s the same every time. I know what to do now. I can use my smartphone to help. It was hard to learn the transfer between the bus and train, but now I know to look for the Bowling Alley as my landmark.

From No Boundaries, I go to the station at Davis and Metra. I get off at Lawrence and Christina to get home.

In the future, I might get a job at Medero Middle School and I would like to learn a public transportation route to get there. Now that I know how to use a Fixed Route, I definitely feel more independent and it makes me happy!

Thanks to Alex Tello for contributing to this blog!

Learn More about No Boundaries and the Hop on the Bus to Independence Workshops

 

1 Comment

Ellen and Noah Bronfeld says:
Feb 03, 2017

Congratulations, Alex. Well done…another step toward independence.

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