Thread: Transit System Aiming to Assist Immigrants

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Transit System Aiming to Assist Immigrants

By Mary Otto
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 2, 2006; HO03

Julissa Freire is fluent in English, Spanish and the Howard Transit system.

A frequent bus rider and a staff member at the Foreign-born Information and Referral Network, the Columbia-based immigrant and refugee assistance organization, Freire often dispenses advice to Spanish-speaking residents on the intricacies of the system.

"They feel nervous, intimidated," she said.

They worry about getting lost. They follow routes known by colors -- red, blue, yellow and green. Sometimes the waits are bewildering and the transfers confusing to someone who speaks little or no English. Bus drivers aren't always helpful, Freire said, and the language barrier makes things worse.

"A lot of the bus riders get frustrated," said Freire, 25. "A lot of people would rather walk or drive vehicles unlicensed."

Others, however, have conquered their fears and use the buses. A recent Howard Transit ridership survey found that slightly more than a quarter of public transit users speak English as second language. "It was an eye-opener for us," said Carl Balser, county transportation planning chief.

As a result Howard officials have decided to tackle the problem of making the buses more user-friendly to immigrants.

"We have riders right now, non-English speakers, who have barriers to how they use the system," Balser said. "And others who could use it but who are intimidated and can't even get in the door. We felt it was something we wanted to address head-on.''

Making the transit system easier to navigate is part of a larger challenge in serving the needs of an increasingly diverse community. The county's immigrant population more than doubled from 1990 to 2000, climbing to more than 28,000 people. By 2015, foreign-born residents are expected to comprise 16 percent of the county's population, according to a study conducted for the immigrant assistance organization. Those numbers might be much greater because many immigrants aren't counted by the U.S. Census.

Translating a new, updated regional guide to the system into Spanish is a good place to start, said Sharon Smith, a spokeswoman for Corridor Transportation Corp., which manages transit service contracts for Howard County.

Nearly half of the non-English speakers who responded to the ridership survey said their first language was Spanish. "That tells us a whole lot," Smith said.

Another goal is to help drivers and other transit staff members become more sensitive to the needs of riders who speak limited English.

"We're looking at cultural awareness training for our drivers and dispatchers," Smith said.

Officials are also weighing ideas such as launching a public awareness campaign with the help of local foreign-language media and recruiting volunteer mentors to help coach non-English speakers in the use of the system.

That's good news to Joey Hong, who works with the Korean American Community Association of Howard County. He said some Korean Americans, especially seniors, neither drive nor speak English and are reluctant to use the transit system. His organization would be willing to translate bus guides and other information into Korean, he said.

"If the information is in Korean, it would be much better," Hong said.

Viviana Simon, president of the board of the advocacy group Alianza de la Comunidad, said the outreach efforts are important. She hopes the system will be able to expand its schedule and routes to better serve shift workers who could use public transportation to get to night jobs. Bus service ends at 11 p.m.

Getting enough money to support such efforts will remain a challenge, predicted Carol Filipczak of Transportation Advocates, a group that works for a stronger public transportation system in Howard County.

"Let's just say the department of transportation is more interested in highways than in public transit," she said.

The Maryland Transit Administration announced it was closing the Jessup train station, one of four MARC Camden Line stations in Howard, because of low ridership.

Smith remains hopeful. She said passengers from the county and around the region are increasingly relying on Howard Transit buses to get around Columbia, up and down Route 1, around the county and to outlying connections to regional bus and train services. The system provided 750,000 rides last year. She also acknowledged the need for extending the hours. "For those who do shift work, they are almost forced to drive," she said.

"We have riders right now, non-English speakers, who have barriers to how they use the system,"

Duh, maybe their non-English speaking situation has something to do with it.

Maybe we should design the whole country to be "illegal alien friendly" since we are headed that way anyway.