New transport system for horses is ‘ableist’ and ‘dismissive’ of disabled community, says Peter Tonge Peter Tonge, for CBC
Posted: Nov 19, 2022

This First Person column is the experience of Peter Tonge, a disability advocate and consultant based in Winnipeg. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

Airline travel can be stressful for anyone, and particularly for a person with a disability. A disabled traveller has the usual concerns, such as scheduling and connections, but also the additional concern about the safety of their mobility equipment.

Worldwide, airlines have a poor record for safely transporting mobility equipment.

Airlines Can’t Seem to Safely Transport My Wheelchair, but They’ve Found a Way to Move Horses by Air full article

Disability advocate Maayan Ziv says it will take weeks or months to build a new one Vanessa Balintec, CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2022

Air Canada will cover the cost of a new wheelchair after a disability advocate found hers damaged following a flight to an accessibility conference in September.

Maayan Ziv says the airline confirmed the news to her via email Wednesday – more than two weeks since the wheelchair was assessed for damage, and almost two months since the whole ordeal started.

“This is the bare minimum that they are doing,” said Ziv, who lives in Toronto. CBC News first told Ziv’s story last month not long after she found out her wheelchair was damaged.

Air Canada to Cover Cost of Passenger’s Broken Wheelchair, Nearly 2 Months After Damaging It full article

Providing assisted rides in an aging world means taking a hard look at what’s currently in place and how it can be better Niklas Mey
Originally Posted Thursday, March 10, 2022

Many transit agencies do more than just provide fixed-route transportation. They offer riders a portfolio of transit services to help meet their needs, from on-demand microtransit and non-emergency medical transit (NEMT) to what is often referred to as paratransit in North America.

This last category deserves special attention. With the number of individuals 65 and older around the world predicted to double by 2050, ensuring that cities have solid paratransit systems in place that connect this group to health and social services is vital.

What is ParaTransit and Why is It Important? full article

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
BY TECHCOUVER NEWSDESK

Vancouver on-demand transit software solution Spare has partnered with UZURV to enable transit agencies to expand their fleet capacity to meet the evolving paratransit transportation needs.

Founded in 2017, UZURV began providing safe, reliable, and fully compliant on-demand paratransit for the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) in Richmond, VA. Since that time, UZURV has expanded its operational presence, and today, UZURV serves more than twenty transit agencies, healthcare providers, and non-profit organizations across eleven states.

“We are committed to helping transit agencies provide reliable and cost-effective paratransit rides through innovative partnerships,” said Kristoffer Vik Hansen, CEO, Spare.

Spare Partners with UZURV to Transform Paratransit Services full article

NEWS PROVIDED BY May Mobility
Sep 28, 2022

The Grand Rapids, Minn. service is accessible by design and will demonstrate how AVs reach their greatest impact when used for public transportation – even in rural, wintry settings

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn., Sept. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, May Mobility, a leader in the development and deployment of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, and Via, the global leader in TransitTech, will launch the first public transit project using American Disability Act (ADA)-compliant AVs in rural America.

May Mobility and Via Launch First Rural Transit Program to Use Wheelchair Accessible ADA-Compliant Autonomous Vehicles full article

Disability advocate’s wheelchair found ‘totally damaged’ after Air Canada flight last week CBC News
Posted: Sep 17, 2022

Canada’s federal minister of disability inclusion is promising to help reform air travel for people with disabilities after a Toronto advocate’s wheelchair was “totally damaged” while in the care ofAir Canada employees.

CBC Toronto told Maayan Ziv’s story last weeksoon after
she foundher $30,000wheelchair broken after landing in Israel for an international accessibility conference last Thursday.

The minister, Carla Qualtrough,responded to the story this week, callingthe incident anexample of a”long-standing problem” withairlines mistreating people with disabilities and their mobility devices.

Disability Minister Promises to Correct ‘Long-Standing Problem’ of Airlines Damaging Mobility Aids full article

Caroline CaseyContributor
Sep 5, 2022

Everyone is talking about travel, whether this is the frequent rail strikes in the UK, the many delays and flight cancellations due to the lack of staff or the travel chaos caused by issues at borders. This can be hugely frustrating and has a debilitating effect on all travelers.

Regardless of the post COVID build back, current politics and the consequential obstacles presented in travel, if you have a disability, travelling is regularly a difficult and humiliating experience. Consider the 1.3 billion people with a disability of some sort – 80% of which are invisible – who regularly struggle with travel and so often have their dignity and independence challenged. The National Travel Survey for 2020 found that disabled adults made on average 28% fewer trips than non-disabled adults.

Toxic Travel Chaos Impacts People With Disabilities full article

Federal regulations require wheelchair users to sit in seats and stow large mobility devices with luggage Ryan Patrick Jones, CBC News
Posted: Aug 02, 2022

When James Glasbergen boarded an Air Transat flight departing from Toronto to London on June 30, he was excited to begin his journey to see the Rolling Stones play live in Europe.

What the 46-year-old quadriplegic man from Kitchener, Ont., wasn’t looking forward to was getting out of his custom-fitted electric wheelchair and into an airplane seat, as required by federal law.

His concerns turned out to be warranted after airline staff helping to transfer Glasbergen to his seat dropped him in the aisle, setting off a more than three-minute struggle to lift the 200-plus-pound man from the floor and set him upright.

Passengers With Disabilities Say They Want to Remain in Wheelchairs on Flights full article