The Better Way?
The TTC, Toronto Transit Commission, bill themselves as "the better way" in trying to encourage riders to leave their cars at home and get on board. They currently move 1.3 million people around Toronto every day. As impressive as that figure might seem, it should be higher. It could be, if the TTC were more readily accessible to people with special needs. At the moment, only 22 out of the 64 Toronto subway stations are wheelchair accessible.
"The TTC is committed to making its services accessible in order to better meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities in the City of Toronto" is how they phrase it on their website, but there's a fly in the ointment. The TTC is considering putting off the construction of elevators in two stations, York Mills and St. Clair, as part of a package of proposed budget cuts. Those two stations were targeted for the construction because of the demographics in the areas they serve. The aging neighbourhoods have 22 to 25 per cent of their residents over the age of 55, and therefore likely to be facing increasing problems with mobility.
What about the area residents who face those difficulties right now? What are they supposed to do, when they need to go shopping, or get to a doctor's appointment? "Hopping on the bus" is an impossibility for far too many. How is that right? The government subsidizes events like Caribana so that people can play for a few days each year, and yet it can not make up the extra needed to help these people live their day-to-day lives with independent dignity. I know an immediate reaction to that statement will be that Caribana generates income and the tourism industry would suffer if we lost the event. It seems to me that getting these people out and about more freely could generate income too, on a more steady, year-round basis. Making the TTC "the better way" in reality would also help generate those higher ridership figures that the Commission is constantly seeking. Those among us with special needs should be equally entitled to transportation around the city, something the rest of us take for granted. They shouldn't have to beg for it, any more than the rest of us do.
"The TTC is committed to making its services accessible in order to better meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities in the City of Toronto" is how they phrase it on their website, but there's a fly in the ointment. The TTC is considering putting off the construction of elevators in two stations, York Mills and St. Clair, as part of a package of proposed budget cuts. Those two stations were targeted for the construction because of the demographics in the areas they serve. The aging neighbourhoods have 22 to 25 per cent of their residents over the age of 55, and therefore likely to be facing increasing problems with mobility.
What about the area residents who face those difficulties right now? What are they supposed to do, when they need to go shopping, or get to a doctor's appointment? "Hopping on the bus" is an impossibility for far too many. How is that right? The government subsidizes events like Caribana so that people can play for a few days each year, and yet it can not make up the extra needed to help these people live their day-to-day lives with independent dignity. I know an immediate reaction to that statement will be that Caribana generates income and the tourism industry would suffer if we lost the event. It seems to me that getting these people out and about more freely could generate income too, on a more steady, year-round basis. Making the TTC "the better way" in reality would also help generate those higher ridership figures that the Commission is constantly seeking. Those among us with special needs should be equally entitled to transportation around the city, something the rest of us take for granted. They shouldn't have to beg for it, any more than the rest of us do.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home