ACAT Meeting - May 31, 2012

Agenda is not available for this meeting.
Please check the meeting minutes for meeting details.

Agenda is not available for this meeting.
Please check the meeting minutes for meeting details.

Agenda is not available for this meeting.
Please check the meeting minutes for meeting details.

Agenda is not available for this meeting.
Please check the meeting minutes for meeting details.

Valdo Tammark, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m. and attendance was taken.

Nil

On motion by Howard Wax and seconded by Brayan Bratanov, ACAT reviewed and approved the agenda.

On motion by Angela Marley and seconded by Dorothy Creaser, ACAT approved the April 26, 2012 minutes with the following amendments:

• Page 8, Item 11, “ACAT was provided with a list of public members” should be “a list of TTC Commissioners”.
• Page 8, Item 12, this item does not state which station is being referred to. The name of the station should be included—Runnymede Station.
• Page 9, Item 13, second sentence, Howard Wax noted that “Public Forum” should be “Town Hall”.

Bill Castor brought forward the issue of not having external door chimes on the new subway trains. This item is on the Outstanding List for the Design Review Subcommittee, but the Vehicle Engineering team working on this problem has not been available to speak with the Subcommittee (as noted in the Design Review Subcommittee minutes). Bill requested that the ACAT Chair, Valdo Tammark, draft a memo to send to the Vehicle Engineering team requesting that this consultation take place before the next ACAT meeting.

Bill Dawson spoke on this matter, stating that project planning has been in discussion with the Vehicle Engineering team, who has in turn been working on the issue with Bombardier. Bombardier will be getting back with possible designs for external door chimes. Bill Dawson supports the suggestion to send a memo to the Vehicle Engineering group.

Action: Valdo Tammark will draft the memo requesting that the Vehicle Engineering team present the plans for external door chimes at the next Design Review Subcommittee meeting. Bill Dawson to pass the memo on to the Vehicle Engineering team. This item will also be added to the ACAT Outstanding Items List for follow-up at the next meeting.

Nil

Design Review Subcommittee (DRS) – Dorothy Creaser, Chair

New subcommittee reporting procedure will be available in the next Design Review Subcommittee minutes.

ACAT Design Review Subcommittee held a meeting on May 23, 2012. The items addressed included:

• approval of the reporting procedure to the ACAT monthly meetings
• recommended an agenda item for ACAT Executive to take to the Quarterly meeting with the CEO and TTC Chair
• advice on the design for the Sherbourne Station’s streetscape
• advice on the 30% concept design for the Keele and Dufferin Stations on the Crosstown LRT
• address the issues with the door chimes new Rocket trains
• advice on the new designs re: pictographs
• advice on the new materials used for tactile, way finding, and Braille signage.

The latest edition of the ACAT Design Review Subcommittee’s Outstanding Items List was provided to ACAT. Questions can be addressed to DRS staff before the next DRS meeting

Service Planning Subcommittee (SPS) – Anna Noviss, Chair

New subcommittee reporting procedure will be available in the next Service Planning Subcommittee minutes.

ACAT Service Planning Subcommittee held a meeting on May 23, 2012. The items addressed included:

• approved changes to monthly reports to ACAT
• recommended agenda items for the Quarterly meeting with the ACAT Executive, CEO and TTC Chair
• the development of transit specific e-learning materials on CD-ROM for the people in the community
• initiation of the discussions on the 2012 Public Forum including the assessment of comments from the public and opportunities for feedback.

The latest edition of the ACAT Service Planning Subcommittee’s Outstanding Items List, which reflects discussions in May 2012, was provided to ACAT. Questions can be addressed to SPS staff before the next SPS meeting.

Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee (WTOS) – Penny Lamy, Chair

No meetings were held.

Communications Subcommittee (CS) – Howard Wax, Chair

No meetings were held.

The first meeting will be held on June 20, 2012 (location TBA). Panel Members had one-on-one sessions on May 23, 2012, but Mazin was unavailable to attend.

Mazin informed ACAT that CLP members will receive Metropasses. As well, CLP members will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Mazin will ask Chris Upfold why the NDA is required, as the reason for it is unclear.

Angela Rebeiro asked for clarification on whether the CLP meetings will be open to the public. Mazin will find out and report back to ACAT.

It was noted that there was a small change on the TTC website under Members of CLP; Mazin Aribi’s name is at the top of the list.

Valdo Tammark reported on the May 1 and May 30, 2012 Commission Meeting as follows:

The May 1, 2012 meeting included a report on Accessible Taxi compliance and described the findings of the audits that were performed. Co-op Taxi had 2 violations, Royal Taxi had 1, and Scarborough Cab had none.

The May 30, 2012 meeting included another report on the Accessible Taxis that outlined the status of the WT Accessible Taxi Contract. This report described the issues that led up to the current improved contract.

The minutes from the past ACAT meetings were received by the Commission.

There was a discussion on how the new Light Rail lines were going to be done with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario. A lot of the work will now be organized and done by Metrolinx and the TTC will be stepping back from the project. Currently, the involvement, if any, that ACAT will have in the design of the new Eglinton Crosstown LRV stations is not known. Metrolinx does have their own advisory committee on accessibility concerns. If the TTC is consulted in any way, ACAT will be consulted as well, as per procedure.

If ACAT members would like to contact the Province to ensure that accessibility issues are addressed in the construction of these stations, they will need to do so as individuals. The TTC is no longer involved with the design and construction of these stations.

Howard Wax recommended contacting Karen Stintz about ACAT concerns regarding the accessibility of the new stations in order to ask her advice on how ACAT can proceed to best serve the community.

The next Quarterly meeting between the ACAT Executive and the TTC Chair is on August 16, 2012.

Nil

Ross Visconti informed the Committee that a report was generated indicating that there are over 100 WT customers attending the People in Motion Show. The shuttle bus from Bathurst Station has been arranged. Extra WT vehicles will also be made available for additional service. Janet O’Sullivan set up the booth with no problems. All of the requested information is ready and provided.

The event will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Building on Friday, June 1, and Saturday, June 2, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shuttle service will start running from Bathurst Station at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. The return trip shuttle service ends at 5:30 p.m.

A conventional bus will be available with an Operator on both days. It will be parked in the same location as last year. The Operator can provide information as required.

Janet O’Sullivan added that, if any attendees are interested in using the internet booking, they can fill out the form provided for collection at the end of the show. Customer Service will then contact these individuals to sign them up for training. A limited number of the videos for Internet Trip Booking is also available (200) which ACAT can distribute as they see fit. There are also more of the accessible transit videos for ACAT members to give out.

If there are any questions about WT that ACAT members do not have the information readily available, or if the attendee wants to look into something, a form may be completed and placed inside a drop box. Janet will pick up both boxes on Saturday. The new videos have not yet been posted on the TTC website so ACAT members have been requested not to direct people to the website. Janet also found about 100 Easier Access Booklets which have been placed in a bin at the back of the booth for ACAT to distribute.

Valdo Tammark discussed the idea of approaching the OTs at the show, to inform the OTs of the limitations of the larger mobility devices regarding transit accessibility.

An announcement was made that Glenn Johnston is retiring from the TTC. ACAT presented Glenn a Thank You card. Glenn introduced Bill Dawson and Vic Truant who will be replacing him in the interim until another staff can be hired to fill his position. Bill or Vic will have to be contacted with any questions or concerns. Contact information will be provided to ACAT members in the next few days.

Howard Wax distributed a pamphlet for the new Bank of Canada notes for ACAT information and to encourage ACAT members to think about accessibility issues arising from the new bills. For example, features for the visually impaired are not included on the new bills.

Howard Wax brought forward the new commercial advertisements now in place on WT vehicles. Howard extended a thank you to these advertisers as being the first companies to include WT customers as a consumer base.

The next meeting of ACAT will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2012, in the 7th Floor Boardroom, 1900 Yonge Street.

On motion by Angela Rebeiro and seconded by Brayan Bratanov, the meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m.