[nfbwatlk] this comes from Canada

[Lauren Merryfield]

Hi,
We had trouble getting bus drivers to call out the stops in Omaha, NE.  They 
kept forgetting and just seemed peeved at our wanting them to do so.  They 
tended to think that blind riders took the same route every day anyway and 
would know when to get off.  What a mess.  I don't know if they're calling 
out the stops now or not.
Thanks
Lauren
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carl Jarvis" <carjar at olypen.com>
To: "nfbw" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 9:42 AM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] this comes from Canada


City Hall The blind fighting the blind

BY Dale Duncan   November 30, 2007 16:11

By now most people have likely heard the story of David Lepofsky, the blind 
lawyer who took the TTC to task for failing to make The Better Way 
accessible

to the visually impaired. The most incredible thing about this story is how 
the TTC fought Lepofsky every step of the way — how it first spent $450,000

on private lawyers to oppose the announcement of stops on subways, and then, 
even after having been found to be in violation of human rights by Human 
Rights

Tribunal of Ontario, spent another $180,000 to fight Lepofsky in court yet 
again when he then demanded that all stops also be called out on streetcars

and buses. While Lepofsky’s story speaks volumes about the TTC’s respect for 
people with disabilities, in these days of financial strain, involving 
accusations

that Toronto is plagued by mismanagement and held hostage by unions, it’s 
hard to hear this story and avoid feeling cynical about the city as well.

“The message is clear,” Lepofsky told councillors on the Planning and Growth 
Management Committee yesterday. “If you want to assert the most rudimentary

accessibility rights and the TTC disagrees with you, then they will have 
access to public money to fight you.” He argues that the city should oppose 
the

use of public funds to fight accessibility for those with disabilities. What’s 
more, it should “Find out who is responsible for this tremendous waste of

public money and hold them accountable,” Lepofsky charged.

Lepofsky first complained to the TTC about this problem in 1994. 
Surprisingly enough, given what would follow, the issue of calling out stops 
had already

been part of past TTC plans. In 1990, it promised to install automated 
subway stop announcements by 1991. In 1994, says Lepofsky, it said it would 
have

this done by 1996.

When this didn’t happen, the TTC argued that it was good enough for drivers 
to announce major intersections. Other stops would be announced only at a 
rider’s

request, but even this proved difficult for many drivers. According to 
Lepofsky, the TTC argued that it would endanger public safety to announce 
all stops,

yet drivers were encouraged to do so and commended when they did.

The costly new automated stop announcements now on streetcars, buses and 
subways are the fruits of Lepofsky’s labour, but to be clear he would have 
been

satisfied if drivers simply called out each stop as well, a fact Councillor 
Karen Stintz seemed keen to highlight when questioning Lepofsky during the

committee meeting. Said Lepofsky, “Every bus, subway and streetcar has a 
driver, they all have a mouth and should know what stop they’re at.”

Councillor Peter Milczyn — who's been a TTC commissioner for only about 10 
months now — wondered if fear of grievances and work action was part of the 
problem

in forcing TTC drivers to comply, while Councillor Adam Vaughan admonished 
the TTC for hiding behind the budget as a reason for not addressing human 
rights.

Lepofsky revealed another disconcerting piece of the story yesterday as 
well: when the TTC tried to settle the case out of court, their offer 
required him

to sign a gag clause agreeing to never criticize the TTC. Good thing he didn’t 
take them up on their offer. We ought to take a critical look at how the

TTC and the city handled this case.

Email us at:

LETTERS at EYEWEEKLY.COM

or send your questions to EYEWEEKLY.COM

625 Church St, 6th Floor, Toronto M4Y 2G1

http://www.eye.net/blogs/cityhall/article/11805




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