The TTC plans to screen out 50% of current Wheel-Trans ridership from door-to-door service. If the "Family of Services" becomes mandatory, some users will be forced to use conventional buses, streetcars or subways for parts of their trips.
Wheel-Trans users need choice and safety, just like transit users who voluntarily use the TTC!
Trips on the conventional TTC have gotten more crowded and less safe because service levels in off-peak times are being planned for "standing room only," which means less room for people with mobility devices to get on board.
Re-registering and appealing your Wheel-Trans status costs money and time, because a doctor's note and sometimes multiple in-person appointments are required, not to mention organizing attendant support.
What do Wheel-Trans users think?
People with disabilities have criticized the “Family of Services” (FOS) program because the TTC is not fully accessible and because it makes trips significantly longer and less safe. The FOS program has been dubbed “Forced Onto Subway.”
Taking “Family of Services” trips is currently optional, but the TTC won't rule out making the program mandatory for "Conditional" users. Durham Region Transit and York Region Transit have made "Family of Services" trips mandatory.
Public consultations held in April 2024 found that:
- 39% of Wheel-Trans users said they would never use the Family of Services.
- 61% of Wheel-Trans users felt that the TTC did not meet their accessibility requirements.
- 60% of Wheel-Trans users feel that crowding is an issue that affects people with disabilities.
Why is this change happening?
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is supposed to remove barriers and expand access by 2025. Under the AODA, the TTC is expanding Wheel-Trans access to more people who have a disability in 2025 -- this a positive change.
But the provincial government has not provided funding to expand paratransit service across Ontario.
The TTC’s “Family of Services” (FOS) service delivery model aims to cut the Wheel-Trans budget and reduce the average number of kilometres travelled by scheduling trips that use a mix of Wheel-Trans vehicles and conventional TTC buses, streetcars, and subways. The TTC estimates they would save $5.3 million in 2025 if they make the Family of Services program mandatory and force some Wheel-Trans users onto the conventional system.
The TTC is re-registering all Wheel-Trans users who signed up before 2017 and placing them into one of three categories: Temporary (door-to-door trips for a limited time), Unconditional (door-to-door trips), and Conditional (trips that involve a mix of Wheel-Trans and conventional TTC service).
Who would be affected?
Residents in Malvern, Lawrence Heights, and Rexdale would be most impacted by planned restrictions to door-to-door Wheel-Trans service, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request by TTCriders.
If the TTC was fully accessible, people with disabilities would use it.
The "Family of Services" is not working for people with disabilities. But if the FOS program becomes mandatory, "Conditional" Wheel-Trans will be restricted from booking door-to-door trips and forced to take the conventional TTC.
