Paratransit users say LTC not complying with accessibility standards

Members of London’s disabled community are putting the heat on the London Transit Commission in a desperate bid to effect basic service improvements to paratransit.

They have formally requested the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario conduct a compliance audit of the LTC’S specialized transit system for disabled Londoners.

Jeff Preston, one of the group’s principle advocates, said for many Londoners, the inability to secure accessible transit is a blow to one’s sense of independence.

“Without paratransit, you’re not going out to see friends’ downtown on a weekend,” he explained. “You’re not going out to a London Knights game. You’re not getting to work on Monday morning. You’re not getting out to grandma’s birthday. You’re not getting to the medical appointments. You’re not getting to the therapy session. Your life is dependent on a system that fundamentally doesn’t work.”

In its letter to the directorate, the group identified several areas of concern with London’s specialized transit service, including:

• An archaic booking system that often requires countless daily phone calls to book rides
• Manufactured scarcity of booking slots due to underfunding and understaffing
• Excessive delays in arrival times and trip duration as a result of scheduling inefficiencies
• Unresponsive committees that ask for feedback but do little to resolve the identified problems

Preston said the group has conducted its own research and found that the LTC is non-compliant in not sharing its own compliance reports publicly, application forms are not accessible, smart cards for fares don’t work, same day rides are a no-go, non-verbal booking is unavailable, and users have trouble getting their service dogs onto buses.

If an audit by the directorate does go ahead, resulting in non-compliance, Preston said the LTC could be compelled to make improvements, or be subject to hefty fines.

“The AODA says Ontario must be fully accessible by 2025. We have two years, and here we are with tons of problems still existing in our transit system,” he warned.

LTC General Manager Kelly Paleczny did not respond to CTV News London’s request for an interview.