Woman in wheelchair feels 'shafted' over broken TTC elevator at new Vaughan station
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station has had a broken elevator ever since it opened 6 months ago

CBC.ca
May 9, 2018
Hailey Salvian

An advocate for people with disabilities says she's "pissed off" that an elevator at the new subway station in Vaughan still isn't working, six months after it opened.

The elevator in question is the only one at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre that takes TTC customers to the area in the station where York Region Transit buses pick up and drop off passengers.

"The stairs for the able-bodied are open. They are great; people use them all the time," said Emily Daigle, who uses a wheelchair herself and has been been an advocate for accessibility for nearly 30 years.

"But people with wheelchairs? Nah, we're are out of luck," she said.

'We feel like 2nd-class citizens'

"Yet again, we feel like second-class citizens because we pay the same fare that everybody else does, but we get shafted because literally we can't get up the elevator shaft," Daigle told CBC Toronto.

The TTC says the elevator has been shut down because of a water leak in the attached bus stop.

 "It was supposed to be commissioned in December. Unfortunately, until we fix that leak we can't get the elevators up," spokesperson Stuart Green said.

"Right now, there is a way to get between the two but it's not as convenient as it should be and we'll get that fixed."

'Sad and pathetic'

Fed up, Daigle brought her concerns to a TTC commissioners meeting earlier this week.

Councillors were surprised to hear of the elevator issue, with one calling it "kind of sad and pathetic."

They promised action.

But Daigle says she still feels the sting, and claims the councillors don't truly understand what she and others with disabilities have to go through.

"Not one of those councillors on that commission ... is full-time wheelchair. Not one person on city council in Toronto is a person in a wheelchair," she said.

Right now, 43 of the TTC's 75 stations have elevators designed for people using wheelchairs, walkers, strollers and other mobility devices.

The TTC says it is committed to make all stations accessible by 2025.