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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 22, 2011 City o~ Minutes / Meeting Summary Accessibility Advisory Committee Wednesday, June 22, 2011 PI KERING 7'00 pm Civic.Complex, Main Committee Room Attendees: Keith Falconer, Chair Councillor O'Connell Ida Fogo Stephen Little Tanya Logan Aisha Nathifa Heywood Don Tierney Sue Wilkinson Prem Noronha-Waldriff Renee Michaud, Recording Secretary Absent: Terence Arvisais, Vice Chair Donna Manning Jacob Yacoumidis Item/ Details & Discussion &'Conclusion Action Items/Status -Ref # (summary of. discussion) (include deadline as a ro riate 01. Welcome & Introductions Keith Falconer Keith Falconer welcomed Committee members. Roundtable introductions were made. 2. Ben Chartier, Deputy General Manager Ben Chartier Specialized Services & Contract Services, DRT Ben Chartier and Bill Bekarovski, Supervisor, Specialized Services, provided an overview of the Durham Region Transit (DRT) Accessible Services. A copy of the presentation is attached. About 39% of passengers in wheelchair and scooter and 61 % of ambulatory (walkers/canes) use specialized services on a daily basis for a number of trip purpose, from medical, work, school and social. Ridership has increased by 36% from 2005 across the region, with Pickering ridership up by 13.4%. The highest increase is in Oshawa with 41 which can be attributed to the new university and the hospital. It was noted that the trips are tracked from the originating point. Page 1 CORP0228-2/02 DRT is committed to improving the conventional service currently offered by FLAG service, Community Bus and Accessible Fixed Routes by introducing more Low-Floor Buses, Courtesy Seating, Hard Surfaced Stops and Shelters. Mr. Chartier mentioned that 84% of DRT's fleet is accessible and the goal is to be fully accessible by 2014. From the total hard surfaced stops of 2798, 1258 (45%) are accessible. DRT modified 271 stops in 2010 and has identified 500 more stops for modification in 2011. The challenge is to accommodate accessible stops along some roads where there are no sidewalks and stops are located near culverts. As part of the AODA Compliance requirements, DRT is implementing Customer Service Standard Training, Integrated Accessibility Regulation (Transportation Standard) with better Stop Announcements (2011), Courtesy Seating (2.012), Fare Parity (2013) and Support Person Fares (2014). Councillor O'Connell enquired if Oshawa had more buses as they have higher ridership. Mr. Chartier advised that the buses are stored at the depots available in Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa and are dispatched as needed. There is no priority based on the number of buses stored at a certain location. S. Little asked how DRT determines the stops required and if it is based on volume, location, etc. Mr. Chartier advised that DRT is currently upgrading the stops which can be improved easily and also works closely with area municipalities to coordinate improvements at sites that they have identified as a concern. Councillor O'Connell mentioned that Councillor McLean brought up the issue of who is responsible for maintenance of the pads at the bus stops, for snow removal, grass cutting, waste collection etc., to ensure easy and clear access to the bus. B. Bekarovski noted that DRT is responsible for the Councillor O'Connell maintenance of bus stops. They have increased requested that the communication with municipalities for improved coordination for committee refer this snow clearing within 24 hours after a snow fall. Drivers are also matter to staff for encouraged to report any stops requiring clearing. review and report back with current measures Councillor O'Connell also enquired about furniture in bus in place. shelters. Mr. Chartier advised that there is an RFP for more enclosed bus shelters and that he will confirm whether furniture Page 2 CORP0228-2102 is included in the RFP. It was noted that benches should include proper back and arm rests. Other challenges for drivers include monitoring of courtesy seating and support person fares. T. Logan enquired about TTC connection with DRT. B. Bekarovski advised that this service is available and that riders need to be registered with DRT and should book rides a few days in advance. Councillor O'Connell asked about the impact of PRESTO card implementation and whether DRT is considering this system. Mr. Chartier noted that they are reviewing PRESTO card systems but have not approved implementation at this time. It is expected that the new Pedestrian Bridge across the 401 will increase ridership and improve connections with TTC and GO Train. Discussion followed on booking specialized services, for a day trip or for block booking, and whether this service could be automated via phone or internet. DRT is currently reviewing improvements for their system which will require budget approval. K. Falconer thanked both Mr. Chartier and Mr. Bekarovski for their insightful presentation. 3.' Agenda & Minutes All Review & Approval of Agenda Moved by Councillor O'Connell Seconded by Ida Fogo That the Agenda for the June 22, 2011 meeting be amended to include a separate item for Site Plan discussion with Tyler Barnett, Planning & Development. CARRIED Review & Approval. of Minutes Moved by Stephen Little Seconded by Aisha Nathifa Heywood That the minutes of the May 15, 2011 meeting be adopted. Page 3 CORP0228-2/02 CARRIED Business Arising from Minutes Not applicable. 4. Updates: All Regional AAC Meeting May 30, 2011 - 2011 Presentation to Council, June 20, 2011 Regional AAC Meeting - May 30, 2011 P. Noronha-Waldriff reported that A. Nathifa Heywood did an excellent presentation on behalf of the committee. Others in attendance included Sue Wilkinson, Jacob Yacoumidis and Ida Fogo. Other presenters were from the Abilities Centre and Elections Ontario. P. Noronha-Waldriff to circulate minutes of the meeting upon receipt. 2011 Presentation to Council, June 20, 2011 K. Falconer and T. Arvisais presented the 2011 AAC work plan to Council at the June 20, 2011 meeting as required by committee mandate. Other committee members in attendance were Sue Wilkinson, Ida Forgo and A. Nathifa Heywood. The City Clerk confirmed by memo that the presentation was received. P. Noronha-Waldriff noted that the designated wheelchair P. Noronha-Waldriff to seating area in Council Chambers is not accessible when the refer to Facilities staff video projection screen is down as it blocks the area. Better for review and report accessible seating area should be considered, back. 5. Accessibility Awareness Event Media Bearer Program P. Noronha-Waldriff advised that the Committee has been P. Noronha-Waldriff to asked to nominate a Medal Bearer for the Rick Hansen run on submit ad for November 5t". A complete list of candidate qualifications was community page for outlined and municipalities are given 3 options for nominating a nominations. resident to represent the city. The committee agreed to proceed with the "Call to Nomination" option due to the short submission deadline of August 3rd Site Plan Review 1 Stephen Little' Page 4 CORP0228-2/02 Tyler Barnett, Senior Planner, Planning & Development was invited to meet with the committee members in order to provide guidelines to review site plans. T. Barnett indicated that the site plans are reviewed by a number of groups and agencies. Each provides their comments to Planning & Development which are compiled for the Site Plan Committee review. The committee is requesting a check list for items to note when reviewing site plans. S. Little indicated that site plans can be quite overwhelming for most people and a checklist with a description of the codes would be extremely helpful for items such as parking spaces, curb cuts, ramps and slopes, etc. T. Barnett advised that he will submit the committee's request to the Director of Planning for approval. Councillor O'Connell agreed that the checklist with key elements would be very beneficial to committee members as . most of them are new to the committee. A. Nathifa Heywood requested that the checklist should be in simple terms, not too technical, to better understand the description. S. Little suggested that the committee could meet on a separate occasion rather than the regular scheduled meetings for the site plan training. Councillor O'Connell suggested that P&D wait until they have 2 or 3 plans to review to schedule the training session. It was agreed that the committee would meet at 6 pm on a Wednesday during the summer months for the training session. P. Noronha-Waldriff to coordinate with T. Barnett and contact committee members for availability. 7. Other Business Pickering Accessibility Needs Survey - S. Wilkinson circulated copies of the draft survey for comments. A few changes were recommended. The revised survey will be forwarded to IT for setup as a link on the City's website. Increased Committee visibility at Council meetings - A. Nathifa Page 5 CORP0228-2/02 Heywood commented that the committee should consider having regular participation at the Council meetings in order to increase their visibility in the community. After discussion, it was agreed that the committee will have several opportunities to appear before Council to present survey findings and report back on the Accessibility Awareness Event. The committee will also be presenting its annual work plan in January 2012. Regional Forum in Ontario- P. Noronha-Waldriff and S. Wilkinson attended this Forum last week. Brochures were circulated for information. Integrated Accessibility Standards - This became law in June 2011. P. Noronha-Waldriff distributed copies of the report for committee members' review and feedback at next meeting. I Cultural Strategic Plan - P. Noronha-Waldriff reminded committee members that Marisa Carpino sent a survey a few weeks ago and response is required by July 0. Committee Correspondence - K. Falconer read correspondence received from the Region of Durham and organizations. It was suggested that this type of correspondence should be circulated to committee members as it is received and that any items of interest should be added to the agenda for further discussion. By-law Review - Councillor O'Connell suggested that the committee should consider assigning rotating responsibility to committee members to. review City by-laws as they pertain to accessibility issues. This could be added as part of the regular agenda items and art of the committee's mandate. 8. Nezt Meetin &,Ad ournment Next meeting to be held on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 7:00 pm. Moved by Sue Wilkinson Seconded by Ida Fogo That the meeting be adjourned. CARRIED Meeting Adjourned: 9:45 pm opy: City Clerk Page 6 CORP0228-2/02