TTC eyes improving service for the disabled

Penny Lamy has needed two sets of wheels to do her job as a health promotion worker since she injured her back about 10 years ago – a scooter and the TTC.

Three to five times a day, she calls for a ride, holding her breath every time.

If a Wheel-Trans bus is dispatched, there's a sigh of relief. If it's an accessible taxi contracted from six private operators, "you feel fear," she told TTC commissioners yesterday.

The contracts expire at year's end, giving the commission the opportunity for an overhaul.

TTC officials say there are too many complaints from disabled riders, such as accessible-cab drivers talking on cellphones, eating in the car, driving erratically and stranding clients.

"It is very scary to speak up and say anything to a driver because you don't have the strength to get up and walk away like another customer would," said Lamy in an interview.

The TTC provides 2.1 million accessible rides a year, according to Bob Thacker, head of the Wheel-Trans and accessible taxi service. About half are on Wheel-Trans buses, about 750,000 by accessible taxi and the rest in sedans that aren't modified to carry assistive devices.

The accessible-taxi service draws at least double the complaints as the bus service, Thacker said.

Last week, the TTC checked the operators, who are supposed to escort riders to their door.

In half of the 20 spot-checks, drivers failed to do so or were talking on a cellphone while they did.

"What we're looking for is commitment. We can provide training, but if we're not doing it with people who have empathy and sensitivity to our customers, then we're not going to get a good return on our training investment," said Thacker.

Under a request for proposals being issued this summer, accessible taxis would have to be owner-operated, a move the TTC says is designed to ensure the drivers get paid a minimum of $2.40 per kilometre. They would also have to be educated in dealing with the disabled and they would be subjected to rigorous checks, including those by "secret shoppers."

Current accessible-taxi operators say the TTC is biased against giving new contracts to them.

"We're concerned with some of the comments that have been made in general and that we will not be considered (for the new contracts)," said Jeff Pasoff, executive vice-president of Dignity Transportation Inc.

Although the TTC will probably always maintain the flexibility it gets with accessible taxis, it is considering providing 5 to 10 per cent more accessible service in-house, said chair Adam Giambrone.