Two riders who use Ottawa’s Para Transpo system say they’re still battling to achieve even the same level of “horrible” service many complain about when using OC Transpo.
Kyle Humphrey, an accessibility advocate and member of the Para Parity advocacy group — a branch of Ottawa Transit Riders — said accessibility concerns with Para Transpo have been going on for decades.
“This is an access issue that has existed for 44 years, plus,” Humphrey said. “If you are 44 years old and all you got done was one thing, you’d feel pretty crummy. So how’s Para Transpo feel today?”
Humphrey, fellow Para Parity activist Sally Thomas and other organizers have started the 2024 Para Transpo Challenge to raise awareness of the challenges these riders face daily. Running until May 31, Ottawa Transit Riders are challenging Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and the 24 ward councillors to ride on Para Transpo to learn more about what users experience.
Humphrey said he recommended a number of changes five years ago, but none have implemented them.
“What do I have to go do to prove to Transit Commission that I’m a human being that deserves transit?” Humphrey said. “We’re fighting for our transit to be as good as the horrible transit that everybody complains about.”
Some of their demands include same-day and on-demand booking, a 24-hour booking service, flexible cancellations, coordination of destination and pick-up locations and having a planning session with first responders to discuss evacuation plans if passengers with disabilities have to quickly exit any train or bus in the OC Transpo or Para Transpo systems.
What do I have to go do to prove to Transit Commission that I’m a human being that deserves transit? We’re fighting for our transit to be as good as the horrible transit that everybody complains about.
Kyle Humphrey, accessibility advocate, Para Parity/Ottawa Transit Riders
Sally Thomas, a high-profile accessibility advocate in Ottawa, explained how unreliable Para Transpo service can be and how much planning it takes to reach a rider’s destination.
“I’m not giving up, but this is exhausting,” Thomas said. “This is getting old to say these things over and over again. It’s willful discrimination — there is no other way to describe this. They are willfully discriminating against an entire community.”
She said that, at times, she has to plan to leave hours before needing to be at her appointment, work or any other plans. Thomas explained that in one instance when she was going to work, she left two hours before her start time and was still an hour late.
Para Transpo users say they should not have to give themselves three hours to get somewhere when it is only 30 minutes away, adding that they could not get exact answers when they asked the provider about the issue.
“No one has been willing to get to the bottom of this and take a deep dive into it,” Humphrey said, explaining that Para Transpo has failed to explain why certain trips take so long.
These are just a few issues people have with Para Transpo.
I’m not giving up, but this is exhausting. This is getting old to say these things over and over again. It’s willful discrimination — there is no other way to describe this.
Sally Thomas, accessibility advocate, Para Parity/Ottawa Transit Riders
Three councillors — Glen Gower, chair of the Transit Commission and councillor for Stittsville, Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr and Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster — promptly agreed to take on the challenge to better understand and to try to address some of the issues raised.
“We often hear from Para Transpo users about their challenges, and I think it’s really important that us elected officials — councillors — that we experience what they experience every day,” said Carr. “It helps us to better understand their challenges.”
She said that she plans to ride Para Transpo to The Ottawa Hospital, as many people in her ward use the service to go there.
The representatives of Para Parity and Ottawa Transit Riders said they hope the campaign will bring improvements to Para Transpo service. They said they want to go out with friends and make it to work and events on time without having to plan days in advance.
Last September, Humphrey and Thomas generated headlines when they raised concerns about a proposed OC Transpo on-demand booking pilot project that would not include Para Transpo service — even though users of Para Transpo had been seeking enhanced booking for years.
“It is a slap in the face,” Thomas told reporters at the time.
The city’s transit manager Renée Amilcar said at the time that extending the pilot project to include Para Transpo riders wasn’t possible.
“Para Transpo is not the same model of service. It’s totally different,” Amilcar told reporters. “We would need buses. We would need drivers. We would need to spread them around the city,” she said.
“We are not close on this. I want to be frank. With my financial situation now, I’m looking for savings.”
