Freedom to Travel the Metro

By Andrew Shaw, MS, CTRS, Program and Training Coordinator

Originally Published in July 2022, ECNV Newsletter

Are you tired of being tied to Metro Access where you have to make appointments and wait for your ride? Did you know that with a little orientation and training, you can make decisions about where you want to go and when you want to go by checking the schedule for the next bus or metro? ECNV’s Travel Training program for people with disabilities has taken off!

We are pleased to partner with the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) to offer this service. ECNV’s Travel Training program offers individualized travel training on goals of your choosing to learn to use the Metro Rail, Metro Bus and local bus systems (i.e. Fairfax Connector or Alexandria Dash).

In Travel Training you will learn how to plan trips, take transit to where you want to go, and be safe while doing so. We also cover best practices. We know our area is cautiously opening up for business again and we encourage anyone interested to ask about travel training.

To sign up for ECNV’s Travel Training program, all you need to do is contact us at ECNV and express interest. To be eligible for Travel Training, you must have Disability Reduced Fare, Metro Access, or Senior Smart Trip (for anyone older than 65+). If you don’t already have one of these cards, we will help you apply for them as well. During this process, if you aren’t already an ECNV consumer, we will work with you to establish independent living goals including travel goals. Finally, with a little behind the scenes work (such as scouting out the area), we can begin the in person training.

In these summer months we are experiencing hotter than normal temperatures, so we do encourage everyone going out to please bring water, wear sunscreen, and bring what you need to be safe out there. We hope to see you out there.