TTC wants to integrate Wheel-Trans into rest of transit
A new service plan would see many Wheel-Trans riders incorporate conventional transit into their trips.

thestar.com
Feb. 21, 2016
By Tess Kalinowski

Half of the TTC’s Wheel-Trans customers will be riding the conventional system for at least part of their trips by 2025 under a new “cutting edge” plan to integrate para-transit with the bus, streetcar and subway network.

That’s when all subway stations and streetcars are supposed to be fully accessible like the buses.

The “Family of Services” strategy, being recommended to the TTC board on Thursday, is meant to stem the unsustainable demand and cost of Wheel-Trans, and free some riders from the constraints of advance booking and restrictions on when they travel.

“Our goal is not to kick anybody off the service. For anybody to take a conventional trip they will be supported,” said TTC Wheel-Trans head Eve Wiggins.

Transit officials will be focused foremost on getting new riders comfortable with the integrated service. But Wiggins allowed it’s possible some existing riders would no longer qualify for Wheel-Trans once the entire network is accessible in nine years.

Wheel-Trans delivers 14,000 trips a day, and an aging population along with broader provincial eligibility rules has increased demand by 29 per cent over the past five years, 12 per cent last year alone. “We sign on about 800 to 900 new customers a month,” Wiggins said.

Under the current system, a Wheel-Trans user is picked up at the door and driven directly to their destination for the price of a standard TTC fare. But the cost of delivering Wheel-Trans service is about $20 to $50 per ride, requiring a $117 million subsidy this year.

TTC staff is recommending that all Wheel-Trans riders be reassessed to determine where they might use conventional transit.

If they can’t walk to the station, for example, a Wheel-Trans vehicle would still pick them up and deliver them to the nearest accessible subway, bus or streetcar stop. Wiggins said the TTC is looking to reduce the average Wheel-Trans trip from 9.7 km to 5.4 km.

The transition will be lengthy - starting with only a 1 per cent conversion next year - and costly. TTC staffers are estimating about $30 million in capital costs, to be offset by $300 million over 10 years in operating savings, she said.

The funds would pay for a new reservation system incorporating conventional bus, subway and streetcar schedules with Wheel-Trans operations. The existing system, installed in 2012 for $2.4 million, can’t do that, said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

The capital would also pay for the development of training frontline TTC staff to recognize riders of differing abilities and assist them with sensitivity.

The system would also need to build a series of multi-modal hubs so that riders could wait comfortably for their connecting vehicle, particularly in suburbs without subway stations, said Wiggins. “If we’re connecting you to an accessible bus route we’re not just going to leave somebody in a bus shelter. So we’re looking at clean, dry, well lit, safe (facilities).”

Although it appears to be moving in the right direction, the TTC needs to do a lot of consultation and be very sure of its customers’ needs before it moves ahead, said Maureen Adamson, who sits on the TTC board.

“A person in a walker has a different need than a person who has to be in a wheelchair than a person who has a cognitive issue,” she said.