Churchville resident Bill Miller would not have a paycheck if it weren’t for the Harford County Transit Administration mobility coordinator, Cheryl
Gable.
Miller, 44, suffers from bipolar disorder, and because of his disability, he does not have a driver’s license. But through Gable’s assistance, he has
been able to navigate his way to work at the Royal Farms in Abingdon via Harford County bus routes.
“I didn’t want to depend on other people,” Miller said.
For the past 22 months, Gable has been serving as Harford Transit’s mobility coordinator, a position she believes is unique to the region. As mobility coordinator, it is her job to help Harford County residents learn to use the public transportation system. She usually does so by riding the bus along with those she assists.
“I physically ride with them until they get it,” Gable said. “I won’t let them graduate, so to speak, until they are comfortable.”
Miller said with Gable’s assistance, he learned he could take a bus from his home in Churchville to Edgewood, and then catch a connecting bus to his job at Royal Farms.
“I made up a schedule for [Miller], and helped him learn it by riding along with him. He was a quick study,” Gable said.
Gable said when she first started as mobility coordinator, she mainly assisted senior citizens and disabled persons referred to her by local
agencies. But in order to increase ridership, Harford transit has recently expanded Gables role so she can any Harford resident.
Of the 283,000 riders in 2005, 20 percent were seniors and about 13,500 suffer from a physical or mental disability, according to Harford’s transit administrator Michael Hannan.
Gable “was so successful in reaching out to the disabled community, that we thought why not expand it to the general public,” Hannan said.
“Hopefully more people will contact me and I can help clear up some of the traffic,” Gable said.
