The airline says it will permit service dogs only, following a move by the U.S. Department of Transportation to reclassify the types of service animals allowed on flights.
Alaska Airlines said it would disallow emotional support animals on its flights starting Jan. 11. By Allyson Waller
Dec. 29, 2020

If you’re flying on Alaska Airlines starting in mid-January, don’t plan on boarding with your support pig or miniature horse.

The airline, acting in the wake of new federal guidelines aimed at reining in a range of at times exotic animals that passengers have brought onto commercial planes as emotional support animals, kept it simple in announcing on Tuesday what it would allow: only qualified service dogs that are able to lie on the floor or be held in one’s lap.

Alaska Airlines Clamps Down on Emotional Support Animals on Flights full article

By John Pring on 23rd December 2020

Information used by disabled passengers to check if a rail station is accessible is frequently wildly inaccurate, and often leads them to book travel to and from stations they cannot access, according to new research.

The research by disabled campaigner and access expert Doug Paulley shows that the accuracy of accessibility information has worsened in the two years since the problem was highlighted by the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Paulleys research shows that for more than half of stations (51 per cent) across England, Scotland and Wales, the information used by the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) website on the level of step-free access is different from that held by the operators of those stations.

Campaigner’s Research Shows Rail Access Information Is Often ‘Wildly Inaccurate’ full article

Dec 28,2020

The age-old problem, for drivers with disabilities, of having to find assistance to get Full Service at a Self-Serve gas stations has finally been solved.

The Canadian Coalition for Mobility Challenged Drivers, was looking for a solution to this major problem since 2014. Many avenues were traveled on to eliminate this problem. During our search to find a way to ‘fill er up’, we came across a number of different proposals.

The FuelService App: Solving Driver’s with Disabilities Major Problem of Getting Gas full article

Disability Advocates Propose Plan to Fix, Improve Winnipeg Transit Report identifies 9 steps to ensuring those with disabilities have equal access CBC News, Posted: Dec 03, 2020

Winnipeg Transit is broken for people with disabilities, say advocates who have proposed a nine-step plan to fix it.

A coalition of community groups – which includes the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Independent Living Resource Centre – have a nine-step plan to move forward and improve the city’s bus service.

A report, to be officially handed to city hall administration on Friday, was built on decades of experiences and frustrations faced by those with mobility restrictions and other disabilities “who rely on Winnipeg Transit day-to-day to live their lives like everybody else,” said Patrick Stewart, a consultant for the resource centre.

Disability Advocates Propose Plan to Fix, Improve Winnipeg Transit full article

Pete Bigelow

For Carol Tyson, a recent proposal that would advance the commercialization of self-driving vehicles brought familiar pangs of frustration.

Like so many others, Tyson, an advocate for people with disabilities, believes autonomous transportation holds the potential to unlock newfound independence and mobility for millions of Americans. However, blueprints for that future are missing vital components, namely vehicle designs and regulatory frameworks that address considerations for riders with disabilities.

Transportation leaders have a long history of neglecting the needs of people with disabilities, and advocates such as Tyson grew alarmed again in October when the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposal that would have allowed autonomous vehicle operators to charge fares and offer shared trips: At least at the outset, it did not include disability access requirements.

Advocates Fear AVs Will Leave Disabled Riders Behind full article

Canadian Transportation Agency
Nov 26, 2020

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) today released its “What We Heard” report summarizing the input received during its consultations on Phase II of its Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR).

On June 25, 2020, the CTA’s new ATPDR came into force. They establish modern legally binding requirements for accessible services, technical standards for equipment, communications, training, and security and border screening.

Building on these new regulations, the CTA launched public consultations on a second phase of the ATPDR, relating to requirements for small transportation service providers (TSPs), One Person, One Fare (1P1F) for international travel, emotional support animals (ESAs) and planning and reporting frameworks for TSPs under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA).

CTA Releases “What We Heard” report on Phase II of its Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations full article

By: Ben Waldman
Winnipeg Free Press, Sept. 30, 2020

Three months ago, Arthur Ray was crossing Main Street in his motorized wheelchair when a vehicle hit him and damaged the wheelchair significantly, leaving the 76-year-old without a way to safely get around.

“A lady was looking in a different direction, and she drove into me,” he said. “My wheels stopped working, the machine broke, and now, it’s basically useless.”

In his condition, he could use a walker, but only for a few metres before running out of breath. So he contacted Manitoba Public Insurance to see whether he could get compensation to purchase a replacement chair, which he said would cost about $3,000.

MPI Compensation ‘Laughable,’ Senior Says – Not Offering Enough to Replace Electric Wheelchair full article

March 4, 2019

Electric scooters have taken cities across the country by surprise, sometimes causing conflicts with city authorities and pedestrians. In San Diego, the scooters have led to a federal lawsuit claiming the new devices cause discrimination against people with disabilities.

The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal district court in January and seeks to be a class action, claims the city and scooter rental companies Lime, Bird and Razor have failed to prevent people from riding or parking scooters on sidewalks.

Scooters have blocked people with disabilities from accessing the public right-of-way, the plaintiffs claim, and have turned sidewalks into a “vehicle highway” where pedestrians are at risk of injury.

Disability Rights Group Sues San Diego Over Scooters On Sidewalks full article

City says current first come, first served option doesn’t line up with provincial rules around accessibility CBC News
Posted: Aug 18, 2020

The City of Winnipeg is asking the public to weigh in on whether it should create designated priority seating areas on conventional buses.

The city is doing a review of its transit system and is specifically looking at the needs of riders with disabilities, the city said in a release Tuesday.

It’s launched an online survey and discussion forum to get the public’s opinions. It takes 10 minutes to complete and will be available until Sept. 15 visit https://engage.winnipeg.ca/priorityseating?tool=survey_tool#tool_tab.

Winnipeg Transit Considering Priority Seating for People With Disabilities full article

VIA Rail Canada Inc. last week announced additional steps toward ensuring universal accessibility in order to meet requirements set out by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

To increase accessibility, VIA Rail is proposing:

telephone reservations for riders with disabilities or functional limitations unable to make reservations on the website;
curbside assistance from select station entrances to the platform, which includes wheelchair assistance, guiding assistance and assistance carrying baggage; relief areas for service animals at 80 stations;
an improved digital strategy to make information more accessible; and
on-demand availability of menus and safety cards in braille or large print on board trains.

VIA Rail Pledges to Improve Rail Accessibility full article

Michelle McQuigge / The Canadian Press
June 25, 2020

New rules aimed at making travel within Canada safer and more accessible for people with disabilities mark a welcome step forward but don’t yet go far enough to removing long-standing barriers, advocates said Thursday as the new regulations officially came into effect.

The reforms drafted by the Canadian Transportation Agency spell out rules governing most travel between provinces by air, rail, bus or boat. They do not apply to municipal or intraprovincial travel, which do not fall under the agency’s jurisdiction.

New Transport Rules for Disabled Travellers a Step Forward but Not Enough: Advocates full article

By Lyle Attfield
June 22, 2020

I was denied access to the bus identified above because the driver refused to let me board citing COVID 19 related safety concerns.

I, an individual who requires a scooter for mobility, assured the driver that I was physically capable of securing myself without the driver’s assistance after the driver indicated that they were not comfortable securing my scooter due to the proximity and associated COVID 19 risks. The driver still refused to allow me to board the bus.

BC Transit is Using COVID Safety Precautions as An Excuse to Infringe the human Rights of Disabled People full article

New proposals for handicapped-accessible airline lavatories would only apply to new aircraft not the 5,600 planes already flying today. Jayme Fraser, USA TODAY Network
Mar. 2, 2020

Federal officials want to make airplane bathrooms easier to use for people with disabilities and aging travelers with reduced mobility. But it could be decades before planes with those features dominate the air.

In January, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed its first update to lavatory design rules since 1990, when the Air Carrier Access Act barred discriminating against passengers with disabilities. The airline industry is exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act that sets accessibility standards for most businesses.

Flying While Disabled: Air Travelers Must Wait Decades for Handicap-Accessible Bathrooms full article

B.C. considers adding new incentives from fees it collects from Uber, Lyft CBC News
Originally Posted: Jan 30, 2020

The Vancouver Taxi Association says it will no longer subsidize drivers who operate accessible vehicles, claiming sudden competition from ride-hailing means taxi companies can no longer afford it.

Without the subsidies, the association said, drivers are less likely to choose an accessible van because it will cost them more out of pocket.

“I want to make it crystal clear “we have not stopped trying to service these trips. We’re doing our best to try and service these trips,” said Kalwant Sahota, speaking Wednesday for the Vancouver Taxi Association.

Vancouver Taxi Companies Stop Subsidizing Drivers of Accessible Vehicles, Cite Ride-Hailing Competition full article

The Department of Transportation is considering new rules that would restrict service animals on airplanes to specially trained dogs. By Nina Golgowski
01/23/2020

The Department of Transportation is considering overhauling current rules for service animals on planes, including allowing airlines to prohibit those used for emotional support.

The proposed changes announced on Wednesday include only allowing specially trained service dogs to qualify as service animals, which ride for free in a plane’s cabin. Any other animal used for emotional support or simply to make a passenger “feel better” would be considered a pet and airlines would not be required to allow them on board, the DOT said.

Emotional Support Animals Could Soon Be Banned From Planes full article

In B.C., ride-hailing companies will not be required to provide wheelchair-accessible vehicles Jennifer Saltman
Updated: January 20, 2020

Many people are eagerly looking forward to ride-hailing finally being available in Metro Vancouver, but Vince Miele is not one of them.

The Tsawwassen resident, who uses a wheelchair, said he and many others who have disabilities and use mobility aids will be left behind when services like Lyft and Uber begin operating, because they will be unusable by those who can’t get in and out of a standard vehicle.

B.C. Ride-Hailing Services Won’t Be Accessible to All full article

After an accident severed her spinal cord, Kristi Leer has been using a wheelchair CBC News
Posted: Jan 19, 2020

A wheelchair user from Fort Nelson in northeastern B.C. is pushing for better accessibility for all, based on her own experiences struggling with moving around.

Two years ago, Kristi Leer severed her spinal cord in a vehicle crash. Since then, Leer has used a wheelchair to get around.

Leer says the experience has been eye opening.

“You know when I got in this chair, I’m going to be very honest, my attitude toward persons with disabilities and wheelchairs was very ignorant, and when I say ignorant, I mean not knowing,” Leer told host Carolina de Ryk on Daybreak North.

I Was Very Ignorant. How Being Paralyzed Changed One Woman’s View of How the World Treats Disabled People full article