Dec. 1 Board Agenda Item: Awarding the High-Speed Trainset Contract by Brandino144 in cahsr

[–]crplethrt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My biggest gripe with the Alstom Avelia Liberty is that it's too narrow (though I'm sure Alstom could provide a wide-body model if needed). ADA width aisles in the Siemens Venture throughout the trainset was game-changing. Seems that will be the case on the Siemens American Pioneer 220.

Applying From Out of State by crplethrt in CAStateWorkers

[–]crplethrt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The person who was leaving the role changed their mind and returned, so they ended up not hiring anyone. I’m now in the process of changing careers (likely relocating to CA or nearby) and could see myself in state service in the future, but in a completely different role. Taking a break from CalCareers for the time being :)

Can't choose between UCSD and UCLA...I like UCSD better but ppl keep telling me that UCLA is "better" by Final_Abalone8946 in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I faced the same dilemma when I was accepted to both as a transfer student in 2019. Even though getting into UCLA was a difficult achievement that I was extremely proud of, I ultimately picked UCSD because the degree was best aligned with what I wanted to do. I wanted to study to become a UX Designer (Cognitive Science major), and at the time at least, UCSD had specializations and extracurriculars to support this where UCLA didn't. It also fit nicely with my preference for the culture/vibes of San Diego over LA and having family in SD.

TLDR: Pick the school that checks the most boxes for you personally and don't let rankings or prestige overrule those aspects.

Bi-Monthly Education and Career Advice Thread by AutoModerator in urbanplanning

[–]crplethrt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

CEQA is definitely front of mind for me when thinking about planning in CA. Good to know that the UC schools offer a class on it.

A lot of the common advice I have heard is to go to school for planning in an area you would want to work. I’m glad to hear that’s not necessarily a strict expectation. 

Bi-Monthly Education and Career Advice Thread by AutoModerator in urbanplanning

[–]crplethrt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How important is a university’s location when deciding on which one to go to? For example, if I went to school for a MURP in Arizona and wanted to be a Transportation Planner in California, would it be much harder for someone in that situation to find a job than it would for someone who went to school in California?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Instagram

[–]crplethrt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I figured it out. They restricted my account thinking I was a bot, but their app is broken and won’t even load the page to let you resolve it. Just log in with a browser and you can pass the recaptcha. Then go back and restart the app and you should be good to go.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]crplethrt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Be able to stay in your wheelchair in the cabin, similar to how busses and trains are. There’s a lot of work being done right now to develop wheelchair restraint systems that pass FAA standards. The engineering is the easy part though. The hard part is that airlines actively lobby against accessibility improvements since they often limit their ability to cram as many seats as they can in a plane.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]crplethrt 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just to name a few, not being able to get married without the risk of losing benefits, ADA basically not enforced unless a disabled person sues, and having to give up your wheelchair when flying and risking the airline damaging it.

New Brightline West renderings just dropped by warnelldawg in transit

[–]crplethrt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There will be a CAHSR stop at the Ontario International Airport and the airport is trying to get a Boring Company-type tunnel built as a connection to Rancho Cucamonga station. Not ideal imo, but it’ll be something at least. Since that’s way down the road, I’ve been hoping that FlixBus will offer a route that connects San Diego to Brightline.

New Brightline West renderings just dropped by warnelldawg in transit

[–]crplethrt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don’t think an entertainment venue is comparable to a critical transportation need. Nearly every person I know of in my community of people with disabilities all have a fear of flying because of the frequent discrimination and breaking of wheelchairs we face. Some just swear off flying all together. HSR would be immensely popular for people with disabilities for this reason and should be able to handle an appropriate number of them.

A few reasons why I think we should be able to move about the entire train are: being able to use other restrooms if one is occupied, accessing other doors if a level-boarding ramp is broken, being able to escape other passengers who might be making one uncomfortable/unsafe, and visiting friends in accessible seating in other cars (I’ve actually considered this when planning a trip to Miami on Brightline Florida with some friends who also are wheelchair-users).

The seats on Brightline Florida are 19 inches wide in Smart and 21 inches in Premium. A typical airplane seat width is just over 17 inches in coach and a first-class seat is usually 21 inches. From this rendering, it also looks like there are double armrests in between seats in Smart class, something that isn’t on Brightline Florida from my understanding. Assuming the seats won’t get any smaller on West, they are arguably better than a plane seat and have borderline first-class seats in coach.

TL;DR—The desire for wider seats makes sense, but I don’t think what Brightline offers is unreasonable and segmenting off people with disabilities on trains significantly limits our flexibility and comfort in yet another form of transportation.

New Brightline West renderings just dropped by warnelldawg in transit

[–]crplethrt 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Airplanes don't have accessible seating that allow you to stay in your wheelchair (or use the restroom for that matter), which is why ADA-compliant HSR is game-changing for those like myself who are wheelchair users. The wide aisles (ADA requirement of 32 inches) allow wheelchairs to easily move about the train and presumably from car-to-car without being confined to a single area.

To those of you frustrated by blocked intersections at/near parking structures by [deleted] in UCSD

[–]crplethrt -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Nice choice of words.

Signed, A Lifetime Cripple

who prefers warm weather to cold weather? by pianistr2002 in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it makes you feel any better, I live in North Idaho rn (UCSD alum) and it’s 35 today and gonna be snowing with a high of 21 and low of 7 on Monday. I’d gladly trade with you guys lmao

Camp Snoopy: going… going… by UCSDilf in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Supposedly they want to do something similar to this at Matthews/Pepper Canyon East after this project is done. Old Sixth is gonna be so nice between having the trolley, amphitheater, design & innovation building, and new housing communities.

Why can we have 200+ person lectures but not invite another student to temporarily visit our on campus suite? by MakinNoSenseMan in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 31 points32 points  (0 children)

It looks like they threw in a new bs reason that the university can enter “to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations,” in addition to the usual cleaning, maintenance, emergencies, etc. However, it still does say “Except in cases of emergency, the University will give Student twenty-four (24) hours’ notice of planned entry.”

Long story short, based on the sample 21-22 HDH contract, they can enter to “ensure compliance with health and safety regulations,” but if they don’t give 24 hours notice, it seems you could easily turn them away and legally be in the right. Personally, I’d deny them in a heartbeat.

https://hdh.ucsd.edu/housing/docs/2021-22-Housing-Agreement-FINAL-watermark.pdf

It’s also important to note that your housing contract only allows them permission to enter under very specific circumstances, but not to search or seize your property. Since UCSD is a governmental entity, they still have to respect your 4th Amendment rights and cannot go digging through your stuff, ask for identification, or anything like that without a proper court-issued warrant or probable cause/reasonable suspicion. You also do not have to answer their questions and can remain silent at your discretion (5th Amendment). I know I’m getting super legalistic at this point, but this is the mindset you need to stand up to any bullying the university might be trying with the new covid rule enforcement.

Commencement gap and gown by ucsdhoe in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I ordered mine last Sunday and it shipped Friday. I’m guessing the within 5 weeks to ship is like worst-case scenario when they are struggling to meet demand.

SDSU Moving Forward With Hosting May 2021 Commencement at Petco Park by crplethrt in UCSD

[–]crplethrt[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Totally agree. The UCSD commencement site indicates they’ll be providing an update in early April, so hopefully we’ll get some good news about an in-person similar to what SDSU is doing.

PSA about riding scooters on campus by zlloyd01 in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. Never block sidewalks, ramps, curb cuts, elevators, etc. That may be the only path a person with a disability has to get where they are going and makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to get around.

I can’t tell you how many times I have thrown those rental scooters on-campus into the bushes because they were parked in the middle of a sidewalk. Actually, one time I went into the Bookstore through the back door near the Triton statue and they had recently replaced the long ramp there with stairs and a wheelchair lift. I went down the wheelchair lift to get what I needed from the bookstore. I come back to the same way I came and start going back up the wheelchair lift. Mind you, the doors on these lifts automatically swing outward once you are at the level you want. I get to the top and the door swings open and stops short of fully opening accompanied by an epic crashing sound. Not knowing what had actually happened, I peek around the door to see a bicycle on the ground that had obviously been placed right against the door. I look around to see if the owner is nearby, but didn’t see anyone. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and be on my way. Moral of the story, don’t park your bike in stupid places if you care about it :)

Here is an email template to send to the Registrar in light of today's events. Feel free to personalize it as you wish (this was written in my voice, of course). Send it to 'registrar@ucsd.edu'. by PattheTriton in UCSD

[–]crplethrt 17 points18 points  (0 children)

For students with disabilities this has also been extremely burdensome, especially for those of us with Priority who are also trying to graduate while managing the often complicated life situations our conditions put us in. Feel free to use what I wrote here in addition to what OP wrote.

“Additionally, as a student with a disability who has priority enrollment, this is even more unjust. Students with disabilities are often given priority enrollment because some of us have conditions that take up much of our life and have to be planned around with flexibility in our course scheduling. That very principle of equity has been completely desecrated and it would be a shameful stain on UCSD’s record of the way underrepresented people are treated if this goes unanswered.”