The members of Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods have been very busy over the summer. CAN has been consulting on several projects, working to improve the accessibility of the bus service in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, and joining new initiatives to improve the accessibility of downtown Maple Ridge. We are excited by the scope of the projects we have worked on as well as those we have been asked to join. CAN is becoming known as an organization to contact regarding accessibility information and we feel proud to know that our hard work is paying off.
We appreciate your continued support and would like to remind everyone that membership fees are due. We also have a new project that includes a questionnaire that we would appreciate people filling out. The questionnaire is attached to this e-mail and there is more information regarding this questionnaire under New Projects.
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments regarding his newsletter and the projects that we are working on. If you have faced a barrier please let us know and we will work with you to remove it. Remember “Together we CAN!”
New Projects:
• Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods has agreed to have a member as part of a stakeholder’s group which is working to ensure the accessibility and inclusivity of the Spirit Square Design Process. Maple Ridge has been awarded funding to improve the downtown area of 224th and Spirit Square (Memorial Park). They will be having design meetings starting this week and are glad to have CAN’s input as part of the process. A questionnaire is attached to this newsletter in the hopes that as many members of CAN as possible offer their feedback. We hope that members of CAN take the time to complete the questionnaire so that a variety of opinions and experiences are offered for consideration. The completed questionnaire can be sent to Ingrid Krauss at ikrauss@mapleridge.ca
As CAN will be part of this ongoing process we will continue to update you on the progress and design. We hope to help improve the accessibility of the downtown area and we appreciate your feedback in letting us know what barriers you experience.
• In addition to being a part of the Spirit Square stakeholder’s group we have been asked to participate in a Focus Group Workshop for Maple Ridge Town Centre Area Parking Strategy. This group will be creating a concept plan for parking that will be presented to council. Our first meeting will be at the beginning of October. We would appreciate any input you can offer us before the meeting so that we can represent as many experiences as possible. If you have any thoughts on the parking situation in downtown Maple Ridge please e-mail us at info@canbc.org or phone (604) 437-7331. We will continue to update you on this group as it proceeds.
• Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods’ next project will be to try to improve the accessibility of the Maple Ridge Art Centre and Theatre. We have previously worked with the staff at the ACT to understand why scooters are not allowed in during performances. We also worked to ensure that patrons who use the wheelchair seating were not charged the highest price when the ACT brought in their tier pricing. We appreciated their assistance then and we hope we can work together to come to some understanding on the current issues.
We have been receiving phone calls about an issue that we have been aware of for some time. The seating in the ACT for those with disabilities is small in number and difficult to book. Of the 500 seats in the ACT only 8 are available for those with mobility impairments. There are four seats on either side of the theatre which were made with wheelchair users in mind. Aside from the fact that these seats account for less than 2% of the seating, and that they book up quickly, there is the issue that friends, family, and attendants, are not able to sit with the people in wheelchairs. If all eight seats are booked for people with disabilities then friends, family, and attendants must sit elsewhere in the theatre. This doesn’t bode well for many who want to attend events with someone. This is also a barrier for those people with severe disabilities who want to attend as some people with disabilities require an attendant to be at the person’s side in case of the need for assistance. There have been customers who have arrived to find that their attendant is not allowed to sit with them due to the full booking of the “disabled” seating, and they have had no choice but to leave. Some customers have been frustrated by being told that all the “disabled” seats are booked and then later learning that those in the seats had a disability such as blindness or deafness. We understand that it might not feel comfortable to those who book the seats to ask people what their particular needs are so we at CAN hope to encourage them to realize it is not politically incorrect to ask the needs and to help the people accordingly. We have spoken to some people with visual or hearing disabilities who were seated there and they mentioned their disability only to prepare the volunteers to help them to their seats not because they required the “disabled” seats. This is a problem of communication and it lies equally between the staff and the customers. We hope to bridge this complication and help people become more comfortable with ensuring that each individual’s needs are met.
CAN’s goals are to find out about the accessible seating, if their are alternatives, if there is any thought to increasing the amount of accessible seats, and providing seating which allows people with mobility impairments to sit with the those who came with them. We would also like to find out about the booking procedure and if there is a way to improve communication so that people with disabilities who don’t require those seats but do require some other assistance are properly helped without booking the wheelchair seating. We also want to find out how attendants can ensure that they are able to sit next to their client.
In addition to these issues there are two minor, yet still important, points regarding the outside accessibility. We have heard from several seniors who have tripped going up the stairs at the front of the ACT. We will be looking into who is responsible for adding railings. We are not sure if that falls to the ACT or the municipality. Railings on stairs should be automatic and not just at the beginning and end of the stairs but in cases such as the stairs in front of the ACT there should be railings in the middle as well. The second outside improvement we would like to see is a sign that indicates where the ramp is located. We have some patrons who have contacted us confused at the lack of a ramp at the ACT. The ACT does have a ramp but if you approach from the Leisure Centre you are unable to see it as there is a concrete wall that obscures it. A simple sign would be a great addition so that patrons are aware there is a ramp and the location of it.
If you have had any difficulties with the ACT please let us know and we will work towards notifying them of the situation and working towards a solution. This project is our very latest and at this stage we have been gathering information from patrons. We are excited to be moving forward with this project and we hope to experience the same amount of respect and assistance as we did last year when we worked with them on the pricing issue.
Ongoing Projects:
• Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods continues to hear from people who are experiencing difficulties with the transit system in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Many of the people contacting us have quit using the system at a great cost to their lives. We have heard from residents who have had to change jobs, move, or quit school because of the inaccessibility of the bus system in our communities. It has been CAN’s greatest goal to improve not only the accessibility of the bus system but to improve the communication between Translink/Coast Mountain Bus Company and the residents who would like to use the system but have found they cannot rely on it.
To review, the largest problem concerning those with mobility aids who wish to use the transit system is that a person with a mobility aid is only allowed to board or disembark from a bus at designated bus stops. While the main route in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, the 701, has an acceptable amount of accessible bus stops it is the smaller routes, the shuttle buses, which maintain percentages well under Translink’s goal for accessible bus stops. The shuttle bus system in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, unlike the 701 which takes people out of our communities, is the main mode of getting around our two communities by transit. We still have a bus route that has zero accessible bus stops. This is very unacceptable and CAN has been working to get Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) to improve the percentages and the reliability of the system.
CAN was proud that Translink listened to the concerns of the residents, and our organization, and that they are working to make sure more new buses are used on the 701 route so that there less of a chance of the ramp not operating. We also appreciate that they supplied us with a copy of their taxi policy regarding passengers who are stranded because of a malfunctioning ramp. This policy is available on our web site (here) and it is suggested that transit users with mobility devices print the policy and carry it with them in case a driver says they are not aware of the policy. Translink has notified all drivers of the policy. Please help make people aware of the policy as there is now no excuse for a transit user to be left behind.
In addition to the promise of new buses and the policy regarding taxis as back-up in case of a malfunctioning ramp, Translink has increased the frequency of the 701. In 2008 the 701 will begin to run every fifteen minutes. We applaud this improvement. Another exciting improvement to come in 2008 is the new Maple Ridge Town Centre Transit Exchange. The current Transit Exchange near Haney Place Mall is besieged with barriers to people with various disabilities. Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods consulted with Translink and Aplin Martin Consulting to help design a barrier free transit hub. We are excited to see our hard work jump off the page and become a user friendly transit area in 2008. We are excited by these improvements by Translink and by their continuing to involve CAN in the planning process. We appreciate them taking the concerns of our members to heart and working with us to improve the service.
Translink has shown great strides in working to improve the accessibility of the 701 and we truly appreciate it. However, most of the comments we hear from people are in regards to the shuttle buses which are run by Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC). Last year CAN, as well as individual residents, tried to get employees from CMBC to come out to explain why some bus stops were accessible while others were not. We were unable to get any employee to come out and so earlier this year volunteers from Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods worked on creating a report that included photographs of bus stops so that the employees of CMBC could better understand the confusion of the residents in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The confusion of the transit users, and those of us at CAN, has to do with the fact that there doesn't seem to be any consistency in what makes a bus stop designated as accessible or inaccessible. We hoped that by taking photographs CMBC, as well as the two municipalities, would better understand what we saw and why we were so confused. The report included 20 photographs and each was an example of a separate question. The report is available to anyone interested. If you would like a copy please let us know by e-mail info@canb.org or phone (604) 437-7331.
We sent the report to Translink, Coast Mountain Bus Company, Maple Ridge, and Pitt Meadows. We have not heard back from Pitt Meadows. Translink thanked us for the report but replied that all our questions fell in CMBC territory. We have yet to receive a response from CMBC although we continue to try. We will give them a little more time before we become more forceful in prying an answer from them. Although we are extremely disappointed by the disregard and disrespect from CMBC we are happy by the response from the staff in Maple Ridge.
One of the problems that we highlighted in our report was that Maple Ridge was ordering work to be done on bus stops to make them accessible but something was preventing CMBC from designating them as accessible with a decal. The staff at the work yard go to chosen bus stops and put down a concrete slab which creates a platform that allows for more maneuverability room for mobility devices. This platform, if within CMBC guidelines, makes a bus stop accessible. Once it has been added to a bus stop Maple Ridge is supposed to contact CMBC for them to come out and designate the bus stop as accessible with a decal. There have been some cases where Maple Ridge did the work but didn’t notify CMBC and this has been cleared up. There were more cases, however, where the slab was put down but then a bench was put on top of the slab. This made the bus stop not eligible to be designated as accessible. After our report was put out the staff from the Maple Ridge work yard went out and moved several benches which clear up the concrete platform and allows the bus stop to become a designated accessible bus stop. The staff from the work yard also added new concrete platforms to seven bus stops. We applaud the quick response from the municipal staff and the work yard staff in Maple Ridge. They were able to see that there were quick fixes to some of the bus stops: 1) notifying CMBC of the work done to add the platforms, and 2) ensuring that the platforms were not then covered with a bench.
Although not all the issues raised in our report have easy answers we are thankful to those in Maple Ridge who saw these two situations that they could immediately address and went to work right away. We have been in contact with a municipal employee regarding answers to all our other questions and we hope to hear from them within the next week.
We had hoped to have answers to our report from Coast Mountain Bus Company by the time we finished this newsletter but we realized we could not put off the newsletter any longer and that we would have to update our members in the fall newsletter. While were are extremely pleased by the progress made in Maple Ridge we are disappointed and very frustrated that CMBC continues to ignore their customers. Our attempts to work with them to solve the bus stop accessibility problems shows that sometimes the biggest barrier to accessibility is lack of communication. The volunteers at CAN have more than done their share of the work and we appreciate everyone who helped to create the report. It is a great visual explanation as to why so many transit users are confused by the designation of bus stops. We will continue to work towards finding answers and improving the accessibility of the system as well as the communication between CMBC and their customers.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility and the transit system in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows please let us know. It is through your input that we learn of the various problems and work to improve the situation. We thank Translink and the municipality of Maple Ridge for taking us seriously and making improvements and we look forward to finally hearing from CMBC regarding our report.
• We, at CAN, are continually working to improve our web site and to keep the information up to date. We are excited by the fact that organizations from across BC have contacted us for information regarding accessibility because their search on the internet brought them to our web site. CAN would like to thank Doug Cook from DigiCom WebDesign for his ongoing support of our organization and his brilliant work with our web site. Many of the members of CAN are not computer savvy and Doug’s continuing assistance helps Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods get the word out about our organization, our goals, and accessibility in general. If you have anything you would like to add to our web site please let us know by e-mailing us at info@canbc.org or phoning (604) 437-7331.
Completed Projects:
During this past summer Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods was consulted regarding three projects.
• The first project was a call from the municipality of Maple Ridge. A new wooden bridge is being constructed in Maple Ridge park and we were contacted to answer some questions regarding the accessibility of wooden slats, and the allowed width of the gaps on the bridge. We were also able to suggest that slip resistance cover be used to prevent falls. We truly appreciated the municipal staff contacting us before a project was done to confer regarding accessibility guidelines. We have forwarded a document to the municipal employees that comes from the American Disability Association. This document is quite detailed (it is over 40 pages) and specific regarding outdoor accessibility guidelines. It is unfortunate that Canada does not have written guidelines so for now we will continue to pass on the ADA approved document. The municipal employees thanked us for the document and followed up with some questions regarding the material within the document. We are proud to know that our organization is contacted and that the employees treat our ideas and suggestions with respect and appreciation. This is a true sign that our continued efforts to ensure improved accessibility is working.
• The second project was a student report on SFU dorm housing. While this project is outside of the area that CAN normally works we were happy to help explain accessibility needs and measures within small unit housing. The student searched the internet for information on accessibility and came upon our web site. They were very pleased with the input we were able to provide them and we were glad to help promote education and understanding about accessibility even if it is outside of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
• The third project was an organization located on the Sunshine Coast. The organization is creating an accessible trail and were looking for guidelines on the internet when they came upon our web site. A big thanks goes to Doug, our web master, for his marvelous job on our web site. While this, too, is out of our normal boundaries, CAN is glad to help any group who wants to improve their knowledge of accessibility. We helped the Sunshine Coast organization by leading them to documents with guidelines. They appreciated our help and we appreciated that they were considering what makes a trail accessible.
• Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods had secured funding for the Ridge Meadows Power Soccer team last year. We were excited to start a team and to have a season of practices but unfortunately we were unable to continue as we did not have enough players. CAN is excited to announce that in cooperation with the Greater Vancouver Electric Wheelchair Sports Society (GVEWSS) we have donated our equipment to GVEWSS so that they can work to create a team in Port Coquitlam. We are excited by the prospect that our efforts will not just suddenly end but rather that our efforts can be shared with a volunteer in Port Coquitlam to ensure that the Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows area has access to a power soccer team. We believe that there will be more players available within this area. Our players from Maple Ridge have shown interest in continuing to play in Port Coquitlam. We wish the volunteers from GVEWSS and Port Coquitlam all the best and hope that the new team is up and running by the new year. We hope to see the players from the Port Coquitlam team participate in the 2009 BC Disability Games which are being held in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Good luck to them and thanks for continuing a project that CAN was proud to be a part of.
• A representative of Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods attended this year’s 2007 BC Disability Games in Powell River. As Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are hosting the next Disability Games in 2009 we felt it would be useful to see how Powell River organized their games so that we would have input when it comes time to organize the 2009 games. Powell River was amazingly accessible. They have worked hard to improve the accessibility of their area and it was obvious that a lot of thought has been put into creating a barrier free community. There is room for improvement but for such a small community they have created a very accessible town. Even their bus service, which is mostly lawn furniture on the side of a dusty road, is accessible.
There is also a 13 km trail on the outskirts of Powell River that was made with accessibility in mind. Although a wind storm had destroyed parts of the trail it was easy to see past the few damaged parts that the volunteers were unable to fix in time, to the foresight and planning of the accessible trail. Not only was the accessibility of the trail itself impressive but there were accessible outhouses with plenty of room for mobility aids, picnic tables with cut-outs for access for those with wheelchairs, and most impressive of all, little huts with raised slats for easy transferring for people in wheelchairs to camp in. The trail itself was compact, level, and barely had any slopes. It was a true treat to be in an environment where accessibility had been considered from all angles. CAN looks forward to continuing to work towards our goal of improving accessibility in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows in all aspects of life, just as Powell River has.
In addition to the physical accessibility of Powell River our representative was impressed by the people. It seemed as if every resident was aware of the Disability Games. Athletes and officials were stopped on the street and asked how they liked Powell River and how they were enjoying the games. The enthusiasm of the local people was great and we hope to mirror that when the games come to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. As we at CAN have said before customer service often makes up for a lack of physical accessibility and in Powell River if there was a barrier they worked hard to remove it.
Attending the BC Disability Games in Powell River was a great experience and we at CAN are excited to assist in ensuring that the 2009 BC Disability Games live up to the athletes’ expectations. While we are aware that planning will not begin for another year we are glad to have experienced Powell River so that we have a better understanding of what works and what needs to be improved. We look forward to playing an active part in the 2009 Games when planning begins next year.
Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods is excited about the progress being made in the struggle to educate, promote, and implement barrier-free designs and ideas. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or experiences you would like to share contact us at info@canbc.org or phone (604) 437-7331. We appreciate the time and assistance of CAN’s volunteers and look forward to continuing to improve the accessibility of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows with you.
Remember together we CAN!
