ACAT Meeting - April 27, 2023

Minutes of Meeting:

ACAT General Meeting

Meeting Date:

Thursday, April 27, 2023
1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location:

Virtual meeting via WebEx

Present:

Anita Dressler, ACAT Chair  
Erica Tanny, ACAT Co-Vice Chair
Lauri Sue Robertson, WTOS Chair
Craig Nicol, DRS Chair
Howard Wax, SPS Chair
Bobbi Moore
Mei Hung
Rob Lackie
Frank Lockhart
Maria Marin
Lavarnan Mehavarnan
Betty Rivington-Law
Valdo Tammark
Tammy Adams, Pool Member Jason Osborne, Pool Member

Regrets:

Gwyneth Dalzell, ACAT Co-Vice Chair Wangari Muriuki Nic Paterson, Pool Member  

TTC Representatives:

Gary Downie, Chief Capital Officer Mark Mis, Head of Strategy and Foresight, TTC Cameron Penman, Head of Wheel-Trans Heather Brown, Director of Customer Experience Chrisanne Finnerty, Director, Commission Services John Boucher, Manager, Lakeshore Garage, Wheel-Trans Matt Hagg, Manager of Customer Policy, Strategy & Foresight Lodon Hassan, Divisional Manager of Customer Service, Wheel-Trans Dean Milton, Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Wheel-Trans Omar Jabbar, Wheel-Trans Transformation Program Manager, Wheel-Trans  Ross Visconti, Wheel-Trans Project Manager Levenson Lincoln, Assistant Manager of Customer Service, Wheel-Trans Sher Khan, Divisional Assistant Manager, Wheel-Trans  Cyril Cromwell, Engagement Consultant, Racial Equity Office, Diversity Department  Sneha Madhuri, Communications Advisor, Corporate Communications Brittany Manu, Anti-Racism Policy Consultant, Diversity Department  Chris Hong, Customer Experience Analyst, Strategy & Foresight Jeff Short, Senior Planner, Strategy & Foresight  Natashia Singh, Customer Experience Analyst, Strategy & Foresight Maria Louisa Vitti, Human Rights Consultant, Human Rights and Investigations Adrienne Isaac, Administrative Assistant, Wheel-Trans  

Items Discussed

1. Call to Order / Attendance
2. Land Acknowledgement
3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest
4. Approval of Agenda 
5. Remarks from TTC Executive 
6. Remarks from ACAT Chair 
7. Review and Approval of March 30, 2023, Minutes 
8. Outstanding Items 
9. Deputation:  Nil  
10. Review of Correspondence:  Nil
11. Wheel-Trans Transformation & COVID-19 update from Cameron Penman
12. ACAT Meeting Times Review Update – Warren Rupnarain  
13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Updates
    - Communications 
    - Design Review 
    - Service Planning 
    - Wheel-Trans Operations 
14. Other/New Business
15. Next Meeting – May 25, 2023   
16. Adjournment
    
    

1. Call to Order/Attendance 

Anita Dressler, ACAT Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:01p.m. and welcomed attendees. 

2. Land Acknowledgement 

A member read the Land Acknowledgement. 

3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest 

Nil.

4. Approval of Agenda 

Howard Wax brought a motion to approve the agenda as presented, Lauri Sue Robertson   seconded. Carried. 

5. Remarks from TTC Executive – Gary Downie 

Gary Downie, Chief Capital Officer, provided some updates about ongoing projects. The Easier Access project is ongoing. The Islington Station improvement will be presented to the TTC Board on May 8, 2023. 56 stations are now accessible and 14 stations are currently under construction. Old Mill Station construction has been delayed due to a need to expropriate some property. The final contract is expected to be awarded later this year and the Easier Access Program update will be presented to the TTC Board in June 2023. The ACAT Chair will be updated before the June Board Meeting as well. 

Post meeting update: Easier Access Program update to the TTC Board has been moved to September 2023.

Gary discussed Line 5 signage and shared TTC staff have been meeting with Metrolinx to ensure alignment between Metrolinx and the TTC regarding signage and standards. 

Questions and Comments from the Committee

A member asked about the Warden Station renovation. Gary Downie explained that the contract has been divided into two separate contracts, one for the refurbishment of the station and the second is for the redevelopment of the bus terminal. The second contract will be presented to the TTC Board for approval later this year. 

A member asked about Line 5 station level name details from Metrolinx as these details are needed in order to develop the online stations descriptions. Gary will look into this and send this information back to the Committee.

6. Remarks from ACAT Chair 

Anita Dressler, ACAT Chair, reported to the TTC Board on April 13, 2023 and updated the Board about the work undertaken by the Committees. Two Operators were acknowledged by the TTC CEO at the Board meeting, one from the Streetcars team and one from Wheel-Trans. Both Operators went out of their way to ensure that two customers were able to get home safely, even helping get them over snowbanks and through snow. This was an example of the TTC employees and ACAT members going out of their way to ensure that transit is accessible for everyone.

7. Review and Approval of March 30, 2023, Minutes 

Howard Wax brought a motion to approve the March 30, 2023 minutes as presented, Bobbi Moore seconded. Carried. 

8.  Outstanding Items 

Anita Dressler provided an update on the following outstanding items:

a) ACAT Meeting Times

The TTC Diversity Department is preparing a report and a presentation will be made at today’s meeting.

b) Recommendation for Honorarium 

This is ongoing and will be discussed at a later meeting.

c) Davisville Platform Motion

Matt Hagg, Manager of Customer Policy, advised that shelter removal work has now been completed on the northbound platform at Davisville Station. A member stated that the work completion has resolved the motion and this item can be considered complete.

9. Deputation 

Nil.

10. Review of Correspondence 

Nil.

11. Wheel-Trans Transformation & COVID-19 update from Cameron Penman 

Cameron Penman, Head of Wheel-Trans, provided an update about Wheel Trans. Wheel-Trans plans to upgrade the Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system, which provides vehicles with vehicle tracking. Steps are also being taken to secure a contract to implement a new Interactive Voice Response phone system.  An update about this item will be provided in the next few months.  

Cameron discussed re-registration of legacy customers and advised letters have started to go out to the 11,000 Wheel-Trans customers that have not re-registered. A message and instructions for re-registration have also been added to the Self-booking Website for all legacy customers that still need to re-register. 

There are currently 84 7 metre ProMaster buses in service. These buses are more comfortable and are replacing the older ‘Friendly’ buses, which Wheel-Trans expects to retire by the end of 2023. Customer and Operator safety remains a top priority. The mandatory masks/face coverings policy, where medically possible, continues on all Wheel-Trans vehicles. Customer demand has increased and David Lo Presti, Manager of Contracted Services, and the Wheel-Trans team are working on a plan to bring back shared ride services on all vehicles. However, no changes will be made prior to the May ACAT General Meeting.  

12. ACAT Meeting Times Review Update 

Brittany Manu, Anti-Racism Policy Consultant, Diversity Department, presented about the ACAT Meeting Times Review on behalf of Warren Rupnarain, Accessibility Consultant. ACAT previously brought a motion for the TTC Diversity Department to examine ACAT meeting times and provide recommendations using an inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility lens. Various municipal committee and city committee meeting times were examined in the review. The following meeting times were identified:

• Public Health - morning meetings 
• Toronto Public Library Board – 6 p.m. meetings 
• Toronto Poverty Reduction Committee – evening meetings 
• Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee – business hours meetings
• Municipal accessible advisory committees in Vaughan and Aurora - evening meetings

Brittany indicated that academic research suggest 2:30 p.m. is typically a good meeting time due to the time not being in the morning or later in the day. The best meeting times seem to be 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. however the Diversity Department suggested most of the times do not consider a person’s work schedule and the review conducted attempted to avoid ableist attitudes and wanted to ensure that people working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours could participate. Advisory committees in Vaughan and Aurora have evening meeting times in an effort to accommodate members’ work and life schedules and evening meetings allow for more flexibility. ACAT members were consulted as part of the review and the feedback was that the majority of ACAT members prefer to keep meeting times as currently scheduled and suggested that meeting times are made clear when people apply to ACAT. Meeting minutes are also available for everyone to be updated. Some members suggested more people would apply to ACAT if meeting times were changed. 

The Diversity Department made two recommendations based on the information collected and reviewed. The first recommendation was to hold meetings between 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. or between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The second recommendation was for meeting times to be kept the same as currently scheduled. 

Questions and Comments from the Committee

Two members suggested some people, including some current members, receive meal assistance and personal support worker (PSW) care. The support people might not have flexibility to change their schedules and changing meeting times would negatively impact those who receive assistance.  

A member suggested that the type of work a committee does should be considered as well as the frequency of committee meetings. 

The ACAT Co-Vice Chair expressed concern about the research and information collected by the Diversity Department and the questions asked of ACAT members. The ACAT Co-Vice Chair further noted that no information was collected about the demographics of the ACAT members surveyed, no questions were asked about age, gender, whether people work, have personal support workers, any disabilities, or other commitments. 

The ACAT Chair suggested there is an age variance and disabilities among ACAT members and none of that was acknowledged in the review. Another member suggested the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee was not consulted and should have been asked to contribute to the research. 

A member suggested TTC staff and other meeting invitees should be considered. Many speakers attend ACAT subcommittee meetings and the ACAT General Meetings. Changing the meeting time could mean less people are available to participate and present.  

Cameron Penman suggested having a meeting with the ACAT Executive and involve the Diversity Department if members were in support of attempting to improve the report. Members and TTC staff discussed different ways to collect opinions and feedback from ACAT members. It was decided that ACAT members would further discuss the Diversity ACAT Meeting Time Review separately and the ACAT Executive would advise if they would like to have a meeting with TTC staff at a later date to discuss next steps and whether they would like to pursue the Diversity Department’s review. 

Brittany Manu thanked the Committee for their feedback and will take this back to the Diversity group. She commented that the recommendations were based on best practices across municipalities.

13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Updates: 

Communications Subcommittee (CS) 

Maria Marin, CS Chair, discussed the items reviewed at the last CS meeting held on April 20, 2023. The minutes from December 2022 and February 2023 were approved. Line 5 items remain on the Outstanding Items list and the subcommittee is waiting to find out when the opening date will be. Signs and emergency decals for Line 5 as well as next stop scripts were discussed as well as the status of map updates. These items will be reviewed once the Line 5 opening date has been confirmed.  ACAT Recruitment initiatives were also discussed. This year, the recruitment campaign and application acceptance for ACAT will close at 4 p.m. on August 14, 2023. The last item discussed was how to communicate software outages to customers and how to advise of elevator/escalator closures.

The next Communications Subcommittee Meeting is scheduled for June 1, 2023 at 1 p.m. 

CS Meeting Highlights:

• Line 5 signs, emergency decals, next stop scripts
• Map updates 
• ACAT recruitment initiatives 
• Communication to customers about software outages and elevator/escalator closures.

Questions and Comments from the Committee

A member suggested the Subcommittee have a discussion about providing the Customer Service contact information on the conventional system as it is not clear to customers who they need to contact if they have a problem.

A member asked about signage for Line 5 alternative routes for accessibility when elevators and/or escalators are down. Heather Brown, Director of Customer Experience, discussed that it is unclear whether Metrolinx or Crosslinx is responsible for providing this information to customers. TTC staff will look into determining who will be completing this work. 

Design Review Subcommittee (DRS)

Craig Nicol, DRS Chair, discussed the items reviewed at the DRS meeting held on April 4, 2023. A presentation was made regarding the digital signage project between the TTC and Pattison, which will provide advertising and information as well as produce income for the TTC. The initial pilot will be at Dundas Station and there will be five types of signage: posters; platform video; bulkhead signage; digital wall; and digital canvas. Subcommittee members expressed concern about the loss of space and cane detectability of signage on platforms. The Subcommittee was informed that the bulkhead video screens will not move, the signs would be cane detectable and that there would still be 10 feet of platform to the platform edge. ACAT members will be invited to provide feedback once the advertisements are installed and intercept surveys will be done to obtain customer feedback. 

The Head of Plant Maintenance provided an update about the northbound platform shelter removal at Davisville Station. The placement of benches, garbage cans and fire extinguisher cabinets was also discussed. The Subcommittee suggested garbage cans be placed against perpendicular walls outside stairs or escalator enclosures. 

An update was provided about bus procurement. The Subcommittee suggested addressing the current problems with buses not having pre-boarding announcements when the vehicle engine is shut off so that new vehicles do not present the same problem. Currently pre-boarding announcements continue to play when doors are closed and a bus is pulling away, which is a safety concern. Someone with vision loss may think a bus is stationary and attempt to board. The driver enclosure was also discussed as it creates a barrier to communication and communication ports do not consider that customers may be seating or standing. Other options are being considered, such as having sliding panels and sliding doors and retrofitting existing buses is also being considered. New buses will have heavier duty ramps and Q-pod securements.    

The issue of an accessible pedestrian signal button announcement about crossing to mid-road platforms has been raised for the ECLRT. The City is arranging a test site and ACAT will be advised about the location so they can review this in the future. The Subcommittee has complied a list and comments log of items to be discussed between Metrolinx and the Subcommittee arising from the November 4, 2022 site visit. Items on the list include a stop announcement script; contrasting curb and bus driveway requirement; and mid-road platform access refuge area detectability. Some of the issues were presented to the TTC LRT Executive Group for escalation. 

The Dufferin Station third party entrance connection was discussed. The developer is making changes to the design based on input from the Subcommittee. 

The DRS meeting schedule has changed to being held on the second Tuesday of each month in the afternoon. 

The next DRS meeting is scheduled for May 9, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

DRS Meeting Highlights:

• Digital advertising pilot.
• Davisville Platform shelter removal
• Bus procurement design issues
• ECLRT items to escalate with Metrolinx

Service Planning Subcommittee (SPS)

Howard Wax, SPS Chair, discussed the topics reviewed at the SPS meeting held on April 4, 2023. The February 2023 minutes were approved. Fare gates and concerns about the Photo I.D. office were discussed. The WiFi system underground was discussed and will be reviewed again. Evacuation procedures will be discussed at a future meeting. 

The next SPS meeting is scheduled for May 2, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

SPS Meeting Highlights:

• Concerns with the Photo I.D. Office
• Wi-Fi system underground 

Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee (WTOS)

Lauri Sue Robertson, WTOS Chair, discussed the topics reviewed at the WTOS meeting held on April 19, 2023. Opening the full ride share service model was discussed and an update was provided about the re-registration efforts for legacy customers. An update was provided about the issue of heat blowing on customers’ legs. Louvers that are already on the vehicle will be moved to redirect the airflow and this should resolve the issue. A new Access Hub is being used as a transfer point at McCowan and Steeles. The hub belongs to York Region and has been reviewed to ensure it meets the TTC standards for Access Hubs. 

The next WTOS meeting is scheduled for May 10, 2023 at 1 p.m. 

WTOS Meeting Highlights: 

• Discussion on opening the full ride share service model
• Reporting on the legacy member re-registration drive
• McCowan and Steeles Access Hub 

Questions and Comments from the Committee

A member asked if there had been any discussion on using the future Line 6 Finch West Humber College Station as a Wheel-Trans transfer hub and suggested that the Humber College bus terminal is a busy location. The member also suggested that the WTOS should be involved with determining the Wheel-Trans drop off and pickup points for Line 5. Dean Milton, Manager of Strategic Initiatives, advised TTC staff would review this item and provide an update in the future. 

14. Other/New Business 

A member commented about no date being set for the opening of Line 5 and discussed that it seems like the opening might be pushed to 2024. TTC staff do not have any further information about the opening date and will keep the Committee updated as information is released about Line 5 and Line 6 openings.  

15. Next Meeting 

The next ACAT General Meeting is scheduled for May 25, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.

16. Adjournment 

The meeting was adjourned on a motion by Lauri Sue Robertson at 2:23 p.m. 

Cindy Edwards 
Recording Secretary