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Down and Out

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Standing on the St. George platform, I watch a young visually impaired woman with a child in a stroller approach the elevator set aside for disabled transit riders.

She will be disappointed. The lift has been out of service for two months now. She’s not the only person I have seen disappointed.

“Why is this allowed?” she asks dejectedly. “I am among the millions of people who take the TTC every day.”

Curious about what the TTC will say about this woman’s plight, I call customer service. Joe Gibson doesn’t spend time with grand apologies to all those inconvenienced by the breakdown. Instead, he says they are “waiting on a part,” as if that covers the entire issue.

I decided to take it further by contacting NDP caucus member Tony Martin, who advocates for the disabled. “The government promised six years ago to bring in legislation that would enforce regulations requiring these problems to be fixed immediately or a penalty would be imposed. It’s a question of seeing it as a priority.’

We now have a transit system that claims to require billions of dollars to upgrade, yet can’t ensure that those of us who need extra services will get them.

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