It’s just a few minutes before 9 a.m. and Stephanie Rozanski is already concerned.

A water main break shortly after 5 a.m. in lower Manhattan, has suspended subway service on the 1, 2 and 3 trains, which several individuals who have been trained through YAI's Day Services Independent Travel program rely upon to reach their program in Brooklyn.

"My first thought was 'Oh my gosh, how may people do we have who rely on those lines,'" says Stephanie, Supervisor of Training for YAI's Day Services, as she checks her email and cell phone for any updates.

Neither the individuals who are being trained nor the trainers are allowed to use their cell phones during travel. They have to stay focused on where they are going and pay particular attention when crossing streets.

The intense one-to-one program helps individuals become independent travelers. Many individuals spend hours commuting to YAI's day programs in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx or Westchester. But once they complete the independent travel training in about 12 days, it's as if "they've gotten so much of their life back," Stephanie says. The agency saves thousands of dollars each year for each individual who does not commute on a van.

YAI travel trainers were trained by District 75 of the New York City Department of Education, which has been training students to travel independently for more than 40 years. YAI, a member of the Association of Travel Instruction, began offering the training more than a year ago.
"
If the goal of our day programs is to make people as independent as possible, why should we put them on vans?" Stephanie asks. "We've been talking about travel training for years."

Michael, who lives with his family in Rockaway Beach, recalls spending nearly two hours commuting to Astoria Day Services. Now, he spends about 45 minutes traveling in the morning and back home in the afternoon.

"It wasn't so hard to learn," he says, which involves a walk to the Q53 bus to Roosevelt-74th and Broadway, where he boards the M or R subway to Steinway Street. "I like getting here early," he says. "I help set up the gym or get some tea or fruit salad at Panera (next door)."

Breakfast is just one benefit for Michael, his girlfriend and several other independent travelers.

***

Stephanie checks the time again. "I think we do good training and we have faith that the guys will do what we taught them to do," she says. "We make sure everyone learns an alternate route. You just hope they use it."

Within a few minutes she learns that all five individuals at the Brooklyn Day program have arrived. But Ambra, whose first session with Lisa-Dawn Pilgrim, Travel Trainer, started only a day earlier, has not made it to the Astoria Day program and it's almost 10 a.m. Her group is about to leave for work – volunteering at the Manhattan Midtown Library.

Lisa arrives about 10:30, explaining that Ambra had joined her group a few minutes earlier.

Ambra did quite well. On this, the second day of travel training, Ambra was in charge of the route. Lisa could not to give any indication about whether Ambra was right or wrong. She knows that this is where the learning occurs.

But that creates challenges for Lisa and Anna Sheehy, another Travel Trainer and Coordinator of Education and Training.

"You definitely have to avoid eye contact and just say, 'I don't know,' if they ask a question about the route," Lisa says. "You have to pay attention to your body language. You don't want to give any clue that a stop is coming up."

One individual spent an hour in the rain walking around in circles looking for her bus stop. She finally asked a Verizon worker – travel trainees are encouraged to ask someone in a uniform for help if they get lost – and found her way to the bus stop.

Ambra has a good memory and that should make the training easier.

"She's really excited about getting off the van," Lisa says. "She’s sure of the route, but looked at me a few times, saying, 'this is Roosevelt.' And I just said, 'so what are we going to do.' Ambra tells her this is their stop and they get off the E train.

"I get to my program faster this way," says Ambra, 29, who lives with her mother in Springfield Gardens.  "I like it."

The 15 individuals who are now independent travelers in YAI's day programs sometimes call or write to say thank you.

"It's definitely a different bond," Stephanie says.

"It's something they really want," Lisa adds, "so they tend to be more attentive to what you say."