The fallout
continues from the second Human Rights Tribunal decision against the
TTC. After losing a first case over announcing subway stations two
years ago, the transit agency has made sure train riders are alerted
to the next stop. This summer the tribunal ruled once more in favour
of blind lawyer David Lepofsky, who said similar announcements
should also occur on surface routes. The TTC was required to ensure
bus and streetcar operators call every stop, even as efforts were
speeded up to provide automatic announcements.
System-wide
installation should be complete within months, but the commission’s
burden is not ending. The final decision of tribunal Justice Alvin
Rosenberg was delivered two weeks ago, and it has harsh words as
well as further requirements for the commission.
He wrote, “The
TTC should have asked themselves many years ago, what can we do to
help? How can we accommodate these visually impaired patrons?
Instead they resisted with all means at their disposal.”
A Toronto
municipal committee has now recommended the city’s auditor review
the $450,000 spent by TTC on the two cases.
The displays
and recordings aboard vehicles are a welcome aid to many riders --
but getting to this point has been tough. Could the controversy have
been avoided if the agency had instead worked with Lepofsky, perhaps
through its long-standing accessibility committee? Hard to say at
this point, but it’s clear the TTC will have to develop an even more
proactive way of dealing with these issues.
According to
Rosenberg, not only will transit commissioners themselves have to
take an educational program “on the obligation of the TTC to persons
with disabilities”, but within six months they must convene the
first of what will be annual public forums on accessibility.
This
recommendation should be taken on as a high priority not only by
every transit service in the province, but across Canada. We must
address a whole range of physical infrastructure and operational
needs that can make transit easier to access, and figure out how and
when they might be put in place.
The TTC has
spent hundreds of millions installing elevators, buying low-floor
buses and taking other measures -- and yet was still laid low over
the way it serves customers on a day-to-day basis. Other GTA
agencies and Queen’s Park should pay especial attention, including
to a small protest planned for this Friday at Toronto City Hall.
Called “Make It Accessible,” the 4 p.m. rally may show how deeply
the emotions go on this issue.
You can find
out more about this event -- as well as tonight’s “Fix the 501”
forum about streetcar delays -- on facebook.com.