What to know
- TIFF brought huge crowds to Toronto, but accessibility issues across the TTC and GO Train made commuting especially difficult for some attendees living with disabilities.
- Local content creator Lil Gabi D. shared her experience, saying multiple elevators were out of service and made it difficult to travel between subway lines and reach friends in the Danforth area.
- Gabi says accessibility should be considered during major events like TIFF, and wants elevators repaired one at a time so people aren’t left without accessible routes for months.
- The TTC and GO Train say accessibility upgrades are underway, with the TTC aiming to have all but two stations elevator-accessible by the end of the year, while GO says simultaneous repairs are intended to reduce the total disruption period.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) drew crowds to the city and filled public transit to the brim. But one local content creator is calling out the TTC and GO Train for inaccessible transit during such a large-scale event.
From Sept. 10-20, hundreds of films premiered at TIFF, with many celebrities walking the red carpet. The event attracts tons of moviegoers, and the festival opened with Being Heumann, a film about accessibility.
But content creator Lil Gabi D. says TIFF might’ve been accessible, but Toronto’s transit system was not.
Now Toronto reached out to Gabi to hear exactly what happened, and the changes she wishes to see.
During a Now Toronto interview, Gabi explained that her usual commute from the Durham Region to Union Station has been pretty normal for her. But everything went downhill during TIFF.
‘I almost gave up hope’: Gabi D’s TIFF commuting experience
Gabi admitted she poorly planned her TIFF schedule: one film in the morning, one at night. But she lives in Durham, and was in an urgent need for a nap. So, Gabi’s friend living in the Danforth area — the closest friend she had in proximity to TIFF — offered her a space to sleep for a few hours.
The issue: getting there during a busy season — with lots of inaccessible stations.
Gabi first tried to hop on Line 2 to St. George Station, but the elevator was down. So, she tried Bloor-Yonge, but there was an announcement that there was no subway access from College to St. Clair (where Bloor-Yonge is in between) and had to take a shuttle bus from College Station — but she ran into an issue.
“I looked it up on the website and on the maps, and College is an inaccessible station… I almost gave up hope,” Gabi told Now Toronto.
But her friend told her to try Spadina — but here again, it was not working.
“At this point, I was very frustrated because all three subway connections from the one to the two — all those elevators were down — as well as at the Danforth station,” Gabi said. “Unless you are coming from the East, you cannot access the second and third platforms because those are only accessible via elevator.”
Gabi said the only way she could’ve reached Danforth is if she took the GO Train all the way to Scarborough just to take hop on another platform to return to Danforth.
“That should not be the case. Something is made accessible when people can have the same access as non-disabled people,” she said.
So, Gabi ended up taking an inconvenient nap in her wheelchair.
How about the streetcar or wheel trans?
Gabi says streetcars aren’t so accessible either.
Taylor Lindsay Noel, known online as Access By Tay, had also raised concerns regarding streetcar accessibility in conversation with Now Toronto in prior months.
Read More
As a previously able-bodied person, Gabi had seen her wheelchair-using friend struggle with the steep ramp. Since her spinal injury, Gabi doesn’t wish to feel like she’s lost her independence requesting help to get on the streetcar.
“It’s so much more of a spectacle. You have to go to a certain door, click a button, the ramp extends, the streetcar driver has to come in and help push you up the ramp as it is so steep… But to have kind of the whole thing stopped for me. I think put the damper on my independence,” Gabi explained.
Plus, the wheel trans vehicle is something to book, which doesn’t allow for spontaneous naps or have much availability during TIFF.
‘They really need to be aware of accessibility’: The changes Gabi wishes to see
“I think the TTC, especially when things like TIFF or big occasions are happening in the city, they really need to be aware of accessibility,” she told Now Toronto.
So, Gabi is requesting accessibility consultants to actually have physical disabilities to better understand the experience.
But for direct changes, Gabi hopes they fix one elevator at a time, rather than block accessibility-seekers from using transit during the 3-month construction.
Because yes, there are Ubers, but no one should be paying extra because public transit is inaccessible.
The TTC and GO Train respond
The TTC shares that they are looking for opportunities to improve, and are hoping all vehicles will be accessible soon.
“Already all vehicles are accessible and by the end of this year all but two stations will be accessible with elevators. But we also need to make sure those devices are available when needed,” a TTC spokesperson wrote.
The GO Train added that all work is being done at the same time to minimize the overall disruption.
“The elevator work at Danforth GO is being completed simultaneously because the centre platform elevator serves platforms 2/3. Taking that elevator out of service would make those platforms inaccessible to customers. By completing the upgrades to all three elevators at the same time, we are minimizing the overall duration of the disruption and allow the station’s elevators to be returned to service as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.
Gabi said that this decision will block her from using public transit for three months, and wishes they would’ve done one at a time.
