Toronto Transit Authority Believes PWD Shouldn't Ride Buses, Part 1 of an ongoing series

[trouble]

Over 50% of the buses that Don & I have tried to take in Toronto have refused him service because he is disabled.

Of the five bus drivers who have refused us service, only one has followed the protocol that was outlined to us by TTC Customer Service yesterday. Today, a bus driver threatened to trap Don on the bus and force him to wait for the firetruck to come rescue him if I did not stop insisting that he follow TTC protocol in situations regarding broken ramps on buses. That same bus driver was reprimanded by the bus driver that finally accepted us on his bus because apparently the TTC is deliberately putting buses with broken ramps on wheelchair-accessible routes with wheelchair-accessible stickers on the buses and just telling wheelchair users to wait for the next bus. This will obviously allow them to say they have 100% of wheelchair accessible buses on routes when those buses are not wheelchair accessible.

Two bus drivers have not strapped Don's wheelchair into the bus, as they are required to do, and one driver did this improperly. This puts Don's life at risk. Without training, I cannot strap Don into the bus for them. I am not Don's caregiver, and should not be expected to do this work without pay, and while having to pay to be on the bus. When this sort of work is required of me on airlines or trains, I get a free fare.

The TTC has been taken to court at least twice for failing to obey accessibility requirements. I had been under the mistaken impression that being required to pay a huge fine and still have to follow accessibility guidelines would cause TTC to consider that accessibility is something they are required to do. Apparently this is not the case.

Because we were kept waiting for three buses at the last stop we were at, we are unable to call TTC customer service to complain about this situation. Again, we have been in Toronto for two weeks, and have been taking buses together on two days. I do not have the time and energy to call TTC to complain about this every single day that Don and I want to go out. I do not want to have to call TTC customer service every day. But now I am considering getting a cell phone that much sooner just so we can call TTC customer service when these things happen rather than having to wait till tomorrow morning.

I wish I could say I cannot believe this is happening in the bustling metropolis of Toronto, but frankly, I am not. After years of fighting for basic accessibility requirements in Halifax, and foolishly thinking that things would be easier in a busier city with more resources, and a strong disability rights community, I am really really tired of this shit.

Comments

[silverhare]

Oh, FFS. *massive hugs* That is so fucking shitty.

[trouble]

♥ Thank you.

[bell]

Llasjfaksdjfalsjfalskjf GRRRRRR

That is just the shittiest. I'm so sorry to hear they are deliberately not providing properly-functioning access.

[trouble]

Isn't it the best? *sigh* I'm still about beside myself with rage about it. I mean, seriously, it's like Toronto hates us.

[zingerella]

I would be happy to send this to the TTC chair, on your behalf. Her name is Karen Stinz, she's a city councillor, and, reportedly, she actually cares about making transit work: http://www.toronto.ca/councillors/stintz1.htm

I don't know where the bus was, but if it was near your place, you were in Ward 8, York West. The Councillor there is Anthony Perruzza (http://www.toronto.ca/councillors/perruzza1.htm), and I know very little about him. He opposed the Core Services Review, which means he's not a Ford yes-man, and in the previous administration he served on the TTC (the board, I think; he didn't drive a train or anything). He seems to be pretty pro-tenant, too, and attended York U. You might cc him on anything you send to Ms. Stinz.

Absolutely e-mail TTC customer service, but thi veers from operations into policy, so I'd cc the people who are supposed to be working for you directly.


(I mean, I know you can send this to Ms. Stinz, but you're busy, and I'm already messing about in Toronto politics, so if you just feel like you're SO DONE with complaining to people about this and want someone else to yell at Toronto for you, I'm happy to. I'm yelling at Toronto a lot these days.)

[trouble]

I know you've been doing a lot of yelling at Toronto. Do you have any advice on how to write a firm yet angry email that doesn't end up with ANNA WANTS TO SMASH YOU ALL WITH HER BRAIN? Because while I find those sorts of emails satisfying, they rarely accomplish anything.

[zingerella]

Here's what I did: I took your account, and used it to write a letter. I then made some concrete recommendations, and asked some questions.

I think those last two elements—the suggestions and the questions—are what make the difference between THIS HAPPENED AND NOW I WANT TO SMASH YOU WITH MY BRAIN and THIS HAPPENED, and I want you, the person in charge, to know, and here are the results I want to see.

You don't need to use my letter, obviously. I've appropriated your voice, and made assumptions about what you want to happen, based on what I want to happen, and that's probably very bad of me.


Dear Councillor Stinz,

When my husband, who uses a wheelchair, and I moved to Toronto this summer, we were excited by the prospect of a transit system that is, if not fully accessible, at least mostly accessible. We live near York University and are entirely reliant on transit.

Accessible transit is one service that can make the difference between self-reliance and dependence for people with disabilities.

Since we arrived in Toronto, over 50% of the buses that we have tried to take have refused him service because he is disabled.

Of the five bus drivers who have refused us service, only one has followed the protocol that was outlined to us by TTC Customer Service on August 15, 2011. I have attached a summary of that protocol.

Today, a bus driver threatened to trap my husband on the bus and force him to wait for the firetruck to come rescue him if I did not stop insisting that he follow TTC protocol in situations regarding broken ramps on buses. That same bus driver was reprimanded by the bus driver that finally accepted us on his bus.

On several of the buses that have refused us service, the wheelchair ramps were apparently broken. We were told to wait for the next bus. Having to wait several buses in order to find one that can accommodate a wheelchair means that we cannot effectively plan how long it will take us to get anywhere on public transit.

Two bus drivers have not strapped my husband's wheelchair into the bus, as they are required to do, and one driver did this improperly. This puts Don's life at risk. Without training, I cannot strap Don into the bus for them. I am not Don's caregiver, and should not be expected to do this work without pay, and while having to pay to be on the bus. When this sort of work is required of me on airlines or trains, I get a free fare.

The TTC has been taken to court at least twice for failing to obey accessibility requirements. This, and the frequency with which we have been dismissed, refused service, and put at risk, indicate to me that the TTC does not place a great deal of importance on the needs of its patrons with disabilities. This disregard subverts the efforts that the Commission has put into ensuring that the new buses are accessible and into retrofitting subway stations with elevators. If the TTC is to effectively serve Torontonians, then this culture of disregard needs to change.

Wheelchair lifts on buses need to be kept in good repair. If a lift is broken, the bus is broken, and it should be removed from service until it is in good repair. We wouldn't put a bus on the road if its doors didn't work. Why should the bus be any less accessible to my husband than it is to any other Torontonian.

Drivers need to be aware of their duties regarding passengers in wheelchairs. Training on how to secure different wheelchairs needs to be mandatory and ongoing.

I will be pursuing specific complaints regarding the drivers who treated us poorly with TTC Customer Service; however, the prevalence of these issues indicates to me that these incidents are not isolated. I am far more interested in making the TTC work better for families like ours than I am in seeing individual drivers reprimanded.

I have two questions that I hope you will be able to answer for me:

How is the TTC going to ensure that all TTC personnel understand their duties of service regarding passengers with disabilities?

Are you intending to invite a representative from the disability advocacy community to serve on your customer-service board?

I would very much like to hear from you regarding how the TTC is going to ensure that the reality of accessible service matches the intentions that are evident in the accessible bus stops, kneeling buses, and accessible subway stops.

Sincerely,
Anna

[merrily]

I think Zingerella's letter is good. I would cc it to your specific ward councillor, as well as to Cllr Stintz, and I would also specify the route you were on where the buses all had broken ramps.

Of course, I'm pretty sure many of the buses in service have broken ramps, but it's more likely something will get fixed if you say "I was at this bus stop, at this time, headed in this direction, and the buses were broken".

I'm sorry your day was shitty. Hope the ones to come are better!

XO

[silver_spotted]

arg. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this shit.

[trouble]

Thank you. *sigh* It'll get better, because we are going to fight. *grawrol*

[synecdochic]

What the fuck seriously i am so sorry you are dealing with this bullshit

[trouble]

Thanks. ♥ As always, we are deeply supported by friends both online and off, but I swear I want to get everyone I know to come out here and kick some ass, you know?

[synecdochic]

Seriously! Sometimes you just gotta fling some poo.

[kaz]

Oh my god I am so sorry that is RIDICULOUS. D:

[trouble]

It's come at such a terrible time, too, because we're trying to get used to and comfy using the ttc before school starts so Don can go off on his own and actually enjoy Toronto. What we're learning is that this is perfectly fine if you're not crippled.

[cereta]

That is appalling!

[trouble]

And sadly, not atypical. *sigh* The biggest unusual thing was catching the drivers saying that putting broken buses on wheelchair accessible routes is some sort of standard policy. That's going to be fun to talk about.

[annaham]

Absolutely horrible. I'm sorry that you both have to deal with this.

[trouble]

♥ At least we have awesome people to support us, both offline and on. And, of course, we're both from the sort of background that leads to concluding that fighting for our rights is worth the effort.

[thatabbygirl]

this is beyond enraging - both for you and don and for the other folks with disabilities who are surely affected by this. awful awful awful. i'm sorry you have yet another problem to have to take on - this can't be how you want to spend your time or energy.

<3

[trouble]

I'm just so appalled, abby. Things are supposed to be better here, but so far they've basically been worse. I know I need to take a deep calming breath and just get on with it all, but right now I want to just say fuck it.

[amadi]

Just ARRRRRRGH on Don's and your behalf. I'm so sorry Anna.

[trouble]

Thanks. <3 Tomorrow I get to call the TTC and then I guess I get to arrange for an intake interview (that we will have to take a bus to!) to see if Don can get approved for Wheel-Trans, which should be for people whose situations make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to take the actual bus. Not people like Don, who just need to get on and off the wheelchair accessible routes.

[amadi]

At a higher cost and far less convenience, just because these scumsucking authorities can't keep their equipment in working order.

A friend of mine has the ear of our local transit agency because whenever the lift is broken, she pulls herself up with the handrails on the doors (because she can, she's a wheelchair marathoner) Enough to stick her head inside and yell "this bus isn't being properly maintained, important mechanisms are broken, do you feel safe riding all the way to X on a broken bus?" Drivers who recognize her are now just passing her by.

[laughingrat]

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. How the fuck do these assholes sleep at night, I ask you.

[trouble]

This was probably a rhetorical question but I have a lot of thoughts on it.

The basic problem is such: TTC, like a lot of groups, don't really think much about PWD until there is a problem.

Each individual bus driver also doesn't think about PWD until there's an actual irritating crip (or, in my case, the uppity bitch who travels with him) right in front of them. So they're not understanding why we're so angry, because they're all like "What, it's just a ramp, wait a bit" and not thinking "How many times today has this happened?" To them, I'm unreasonable, mean, and abusive. To me, they're not following stated protocol and thus making our lives difficult. At least two of the bus drivers I know are going to go home and bitch about me because I was in their face about protocol and basically called them liars. But if the TTC was actually designed to think about PWD, then this wouldn't be a problem because there's no fucking way this would be acceptable and either putting multiple broken buses on a route or refusing service to uppity crips would at least lead to some form of reprimand, and thus it wouldn't happen again.

But instead, if we are very lucky, they will do another "This is the proper protocol for treating people who use wheelchairs on the bus" memo that will get eye-rollingly ignored.

There needs to be consequences for this shit. We know there will not be.

[jesse_the_k]

Some uppity crip activists have established "if the ramp don't work, dispatch a van immediately" (not part of ADA or ODA, just from a legal settlement — Chicago's suburban PACE comes to mind). Of course this costs the transit authority big heaps o' cash, and encourages better ramp maintenance.

The key to ramp maintenance in Madison is heavy daily use. In the first five years of accessible buses, Madison had more accessible boardings than Chicago. Not more potential riders, just more hard-heads like me who insisted on taking the bus.

[sami]

I swear I suddenly want to let my city be identified as a semi-rural backwater, which I would normally protest, just so they can then have it be pointed out to them that Perth, Australia, nearest other major city 1325 miles away, this shit is way past being even a problem worth thinking about. I've spent a lot of time on buses, and I've seen a lot of people in wheelchairs get aboard, and they don't need a caregiver with them, or to argue with the driver. The way it works is, the person in the wheelchair is at the bus stop, the bus stops, the driver extends the ramp, the disabled person rolls in, parks in the wheelchair parking area at the front of the bus, and the closest you can get to drama is if someone is inattentive and occupying the parking area, because it has seats that flip down if the area is not in use by disabled persons.

Not only is it standing policy, with signs (which also tell people to leave the seats flipped up, but no-one does, but if someone in a wheelchair turns up people flip the seats up immediately or the driver does it if there's no passengers around), that if a disabled person turns up they get the area, on the one occasion I saw someone being an ass about it, the driver told them that if they didn't give up their seat, they would be getting off the bus or he would be calling the police.

I feel like every city with pretensions to being a notable metropolis, which Perth doesn't really have at all, should be ashamed of itself when it can't match Perth for basic standards of civic amenities.

[deird1]

Same sort of thing in Melbourne. I never realised how brilliant our disabled access policies were until I started hearing about the ones overseas...

[ironed_orchid]

The scary thing there is that Perth is one of the few cities in Australia that have actually invested in public transport in recent years. I miss it.

[laughingrat]

that will get eye-rollingly ignored

Yes! And that's the damn problem right there--under all that feigned ignorance and wide-eyed innocence and "it's not my problem"ing and "I don't know why you're so upset"ing, there's decisions from the lowest bus driver all the way up to the top to not give a flaming shit about this. It's fucking putrescent.

Also, <3 the "I am not his caregiver" part. Go you.

[trouble]

I really hate that of course I will always take care of him, just like he always takes care of me, but people want me to be in a role that basically makes it impossible for him to be independent. There is no reason why Don shouldn't be able to take the bus anywhere in the city alone, but as things stand I need to be there to be the person who insists that they actually do shit. And it makes me so angry.

It really scares me that Don's quality of life can basically be entirely about whether or not I'm in a shit mood or if I'm having a Crazy Attack and thus can't advocate for him without it turning into a screaming meltdown. How is that safe?

[laughingrat]

*nods* That's how I read it, too--not that you don't care about Don, or don't want to be there for him, but that there's this ugly assumption that they don't have to make one of the most basic aspects of a civilized society accessible to him because, well, he's got you with him, right? (I seem to remember a similar attitude from the doctors you guys were dealing with back at the old town?)

[trouble]

Yup. They had the audacity to tell me that my taking three months off of my career to be Don's full-time caregiver had nothing to do with his health.

[laughingrat]

Oh, I remember that one. Yes yes. They have that special privilege logic. Their brains must have to do stupendous feats to get where they can actually say that shit with a straight face and believe it.

[trouble]

And then I got a reputation of being abusive to hospital staff! :D :D :D!!!!

Seriously, I cannot tell you how enraged this whole fucking thing makes me. And of course it's all just an individual problem, and no one wants to really talk about how this is a huge multi-pronged problem.

[laughingrat]

Oh god no. Because when you start talking about how it's a systemic problem, that means you're Crazy, and they no longer have to listen to you. And yet, if it's just an individual problem, they can be baffled as to why you're so upset, and why you think they have any responsibility. Ain't that a sweet setup!

[jesse_the_k]

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

I'm so sorry this shit is happening.

[trouble]

We really need to get hooked up with the angry crip people in Toronto because so far all the "agencies" meant to help us are run by nice able-bodied people who just want to help. *sigh*

[jesse_the_k]

None come to mind but I'll trolltrawl my resources....

You are loved!

[dustyasymptotes]

The one that comes to mind is DAMN (Disability Action Movement Now) I'm not sure how active they are but I have a good friend who's housemates with someone involved. I can get you in touch if you'd like.

The most recent web-presence I've been able to find is an article on mediacoop from June this year. I heard they've been pretty effective at making the various left coalition organizing more accessible in terms of location and ASL interpretation.

Hope this helps!

[trouble]

Ooh, yes!

That's especially fascinating to me because part of why I stopped financially supporting the Halifax Media Co-op was because of the lack of any movement on accessibility issues on their website I had been bringing up since the day it opened.

[sami]

... wow. That's just so unbelievably fucked up.

About all I can suggest is oh-so-helpfully pointing out that if they are having too much trouble working out how to run basic fucking disabled access, they could perhaps liaise with Perth's public transport authority, in the most isolated capitol city in the world, where we have apparently achieved the remarkable feat of solving the most difficult problem in the world, and made it so people in wheelchairs can take the bus omg.

What is this with Don even needing to be strapped in? What the hell kind of hideously badly designed buses have they got there? And malfunctioning ramps? If the bus is BROKEN it SHOULDN'T BE IN SERVICE. I don't even know what would be done about that here because I've never heard of that happening. What other basic maintenance aren't they doing?

I just, I don't even, what the hell.

[trouble]

Yeah, the bus services in Perth were so much better than any of the ones I've experienced in Canada.

The strapping in here works as such: They have these ties on the floor with hooks that hook onto the chair in order to keep it stable. This is especially important when it is wet because the chair can slide across the wet floor. He didn't have the chair when we were in Perth so I'm not entirely sure how it worked there.

[sami]

... the floors have high-traction surfaces that don't get slippery when wet, at all? And the chair wheels roll off their water on the way to parking. We don't get snow here, so it's possible bus floors get wetter there than they do here, but buses generally don't drive that violently that it'd be likely to be a huge issue even so.

I can't imagine Perth using a system like that, because it's terribly inefficient to require the bus driver to get out and strap people on and off, and in general our disabled access stuff is designed so that the disabled person should in most cases be able to do stuff without having to ask for assistance. This is, in my view, a pretty good design philosophy, because it works out better that way for everyone. The disabled people don't have to ask for help all the time, and the people doing their jobs can keep doing their jobs and only have to interrupt to render assistance in unusual circumstances. (Extending ramps on buses doesn't count - I presume it's policy to do so, or else it's just courtesy, but bus drivers will in general get the ramp out before they even open the doors if there's a wheelchair, a pram, or even a walking stick in sight.)

That said, the idea of a disabled person asking for assistance and not getting it would be inconceivable here. That kind of thing would end up on the tabloid TV shows and get people fired, I think.

[willow]

I am very close to asking for ramp extension because the buses are supposed to kneel by me, but there is nothing clear cut about which buses kneel and how low and I'm tired of straining or hurting myself. But it will take a lot to have to ask for that. It takes so much to ask for kneeling. A situation where I didn' have to gear up to be 'that person' would be amazing. There's a reason leaving the house is so draining.

I have heard someone on the bus claim Paratransit takes you everywhere so there's no need to take the regular bus except to pretend to be normal and mess things up for everyone else with somewhere important to go. I don't think many drivers get trained out of similar thinking

[trouble]

Certainly I've heard that attitude too. "Why would cripples need to take the bus during rush hour!" is another one. *sigh*

One of the things Edmonton did was institute a bus card system where one could just display the card and the bus would kneel.

[ginny_t]

Wow, that's gross. When I lived on Eglinton, all (almost?) the buses had ramps and wheelchair stickers. I never saw a broken ramp or a driver refuse to take on a wheelchair. (I also never saw a driver strap in a wheelchair, and I saw a fair number of wheelchair users come and go.) I thought it was better than that. :(

[trouble]

I did honestly wonder if any of it was because we're out in Farlandia.

[ginny_t]

But I don't want it to be that way. People along Finch pay taxes just like people along Eglinton. Argh.

I also remember the Lawrence bus was running old inaccessible buses far longer than any of the other routes. I note that Lawrence (especially east out in Scarborough) was in pretty sad shape the last time I rode that bus--stores closed &c. Oh, city.

[trouble]

Yeah. :( ♥ I am really beginning to think that the "It's better if we live closer to York so I have less of a commute" argument was the wrong one. :(

[umadoshi]

I may cry. *so many hugs*

[lilacsigil]

Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them. Fuck them for assuming that Don has no need to be independent, and fuck them for assuming that you will pick up their slack.

[verity]

Oh sweet Jesus.

TORONTO, GET BACK INSIDE THE HOUSE AND SIT IN THE CORNER UNTIL YOU CAN BEHAVE YOURSELF

[rising]

I had buses in Denver repeatedly refuse me the lift, and I'm simply on crutches and cannot take stairs. I've had buses here in San Francisco refuse to use the lift, or the ramp.

I have buses in LA pass me up, because apparently my bright crutches when I'm alone by myself are a warning sign that I'm going to want something they don't have the time along their busy fucking route to do.

[jackandahat]

Fuck's sake, some people's children. I'm sorry Don and you are having to deal with this shite.

[jhameia]

That is such complete fucking bullshit =((( Many many hugs.

[qem_chibati]

I can not fucking believe that you are going through this shit. D:

[spiralsheep]

That's wrong in soooooo many ways. And now I've read the comments here too. :-O

Buses around here, and in London when I was there, kneel for anyone who appears to have mobility difficulties AND pushchairs (and people still volunteer to help others on or off the bus).

I read the comment exchange above but I'm still not sure I understand why bus passengers using wheelchairs would need to be specially strapped in* if the bus is properly designed (i.e. high traction floors and appropriate "back" rests for wheelchairs so they can be parked with brakes on facing away from the direction of travel). Even fully able pedestrians need high traction floors on buses when it's wet. The ramp situation isn't perfect, partly because of unsuitable kerbs (or no kerbs at all on some old/narrow streets), and wasn't even in London after Mayor Ken Livingtone's public transport reforms, but the expectation is towards accessibility and bus drivers are embarrassed when their buses fail. (Although the situation in Britain is presumably very varied from locality to locality.)

* There have been arguments over here in favour of ALL coach passengers (and possibly bus passengers to having compulsory seatbelts).

[zingerella]

Just to provide some context that may work better than my trying to describe the setup on the TTC, here's the page about accessibility on buses.

All the buses kneel. Most (the vast majority) also have either a foldy-out ramp or a lift, depending on which particular model of bus you wind up taking. All those with ramps/lifts have a spot for the wheelchair, with a backrest; however, it appears that it's essential to secure the wheelchair as well.

All our buses have high-traction floors, I think, because if you don't have them, then in winter everyone slips.

There are some really boring videos that show how it's all supposed to work, including showing a driver asking a passenger in a scooter whether she wants/needs to be secured, and showing the driver securing the scooter (she manages the lap-belt herself). Given the speed with which some buses go, the terrible condition of Toronto's roads, and the amount of sway that bus passengers experience, I'm guessing that securing the wheels and the passenger lends stability.

The video, of course, makes the system look far better than it's turning out to be, but I suspect that the big problem (and this is a real problem) seems to be in the place between planning and execution (well, and in the fact that you don't seem to be able to have more than one wheelchair on a bus. That sucks). I'm not excusing the TTC by any means. What's the use of accessible buses that don't work or that "operators" (the TTC's term) don't know how to use?

Grar. Excuse me. I must go write an angry letter.

[spiralsheep]

I don't think I've ever seen a lift over here, just automated ramps on buses and manual ramps on trains, both operated by members of staff (context: most buses have automated doors whole most/many trains have partially manual doors).

it appears that it's essential to secure the wheelchair as well.

I hope that doesn't apply to the conditions over here because I can't imagine drivers agreeing to do that (for reasons of both insurance and their personal safety - they rarely emerge from their shielded driving seats). Although, as our bus drivers traditionally don't have safety belts themselves that's an incentive to drive appropriately. ::wryface::

Thank you for the links. My computer is too old to do vids but the info page is interesting. I can see that the backrests position the wheelchair user facing the direction of travel so, yes, they'd need additional safety restraints. All the ones I've seen over here are specifically designed to face away from the direction of travel and they are padded like seats and low-to-high enough to offer some emergency bracing for the heads/necks of even the tallest wheelchair user (from some forwards/backwards motion, not sideways motion), unlike bus passengers in the standard seats (except on most coaches).

It's always interesting to see differing solutions and why differing societies chose them.

I also read your comment above. Let the letter-writing commence!

[trouble]

The new buses in Halifax have that backward-facing thing and Don hates them. They don't allow the person in the wheelchair to see where they are (the stops aren't called in Halifax) and, for him at least, the positioning causes nausea.

[spiralsheep]

They don't allow the person in the wheelchair to see where they are (the stops aren't called in Halifax) and, for him at least, the positioning causes nausea.

Yes, obviously, to both of those, but if it's a choice (and I don't have enough info to know if it is or not) between relying on a human assistant and the disadvantages of facing backwards then it's an invidious choice that'll never suit everyone.

the stops aren't called in Halifax

Yeah, stops should be displayed and announced (and there should be phone apps linked in to bus stops equipped with real-time updated display boards at stops) but that's another fight, sadly. Trains over here tend to be better than buses but tube/underground accessibility is worse so... six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.

We also, of course, have segregated transport services such as dial-a-ride with all the advantages and disadvantages those involve.

[trouble]

After two days of calling I finally got to wait on hold for an hour to book Don's intake appointment with them. Which I hope goes well because they seem to at least be functional.

[spiralsheep]

After two days of calling I finally got to wait on hold for an hour

But, hon, you know neither you nor Don has anything better to do with your time... like, oh, drink or pee....

/hates telephones at the best of times and thinks "hold music" is an invention OF THE (non-existent) DEVIL

[kerrypolka]

Thank you so much for kicking up a fuss about this.

[bcholmes]

Grr. I'm sorry to hear that.

I guess I've noticed when the system works. We frequently have people in chairs on my local bus route.

I've also seen the evolution of the set-up over the many years I've lived in the city. When I first moved to Toronto, there were no subway stations with elevators, ferinstance, so I thought things were improving. So it's angry-making to hear that the TTC is still screwing up.

[susanreads]

Grrrrr. They're obviously relying on an assumption that disabled people don't riot. Sack the lot of 'em!

For a more practicable suggestion, zingerella's letter looks good.