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Latino committee raises language, scheduling and route barriers to Carbondale’s Downtowner and bike programs
Summary
Committee members reported registration and language barriers to the Downtowner app and other mobility services, suggested bilingual phone assistance, outreach at market and First Friday events, and asked staff to raise service coverage with transit partners.
Members of the Carbondale Latino Community Committee described problems Spanish-speaking residents face using local mobility services and proposed outreach and operational changes to improve access.
Committee participants said many residents find the Downtowner app difficult to navigate in English, have long waits for help, or do not use smartphones. Members urged the town and service operators to offer a Spanish-language phone line or live assistance for registration and booking, and recommended producing short Spanish tutorial videos that could be shared on Facebook and via the committee’s mailing list.
Members reported that the regional transit provider (referred to in the meeting as RFTA) has not been willing to extend some services to the town’s south side and that the town has paid approximately $7,000 to support downtown and related mobility pilots, with cost-sharing described as “half and half” in the discussion. Committee members asked staff to forward neighborhood scheduling and demand information by email to Lauren and Gerard and to Jared so the transit program managers understand peak local demand times (members indicated morning commute windows of roughly 6:00–8:30 a.m. and late-afternoon hours around 4:00–6:00 p.m.).
The committee discussed practical outreach options: staffing a table at First Fridays, setting up information booths at the City Market and near Hispanic-owned businesses, including flyers in school and church communications (subject to school permission), and offering in-person registration help at community events such as health fairs. Members also proposed trialing tricycle-style cycles (three-wheeled bikes) for riders who cannot use two-wheel bicycles, and suggested taking a phased approach: first regulate and pilot nonstandard cycles, then consider electric variants.
School parking restrictions were raised as a separate access issue: committee members noted high-school parking lots were closed to public use during the day to prevent misuse and that any change would have required authorization from school administrators. Committee members asked staff to collect schedule data and community feedback and to report back at a future meeting.
Next steps recorded: committee members will send scheduling and demand notes to staff (Lauren and Gerard) to inform transit operator discussions, produce Spanish-language outreach materials and a short tutorial video for review by the committee, and explore staffing First Friday or similar events to provide hands-on help signing up for mobility services.
