ACAT Meeting - January 26, 2024

Minutes of Meeting:

ACAT General Meeting

Meeting Date:

Friday, January 26, 2024 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location:

Hybrid meeting via Microsoft Teams

Present:

Anita Dressler, ACAT Chair
Betty Rivington-Law ACAT Co-Vice Chair
Erica Tanny, ACAT Co-Vice Chair
Mei Hung
Bobbi Moore
Howard Wax
Debbie Gillespie
Angela Marley
Lori Bailey
Wangari Muriuki
Chau Sheung Wong
Frank Lockhart
Lavarnan Mehavarnan

Pool Members

Michelle Pena Escobar
Renate Bradley
Roberta Butler
Paul Manna

Regrets

Tammy Adams
Maria Marin Oda
Al-Anizi TTC

Representatives:

Rick Leary, Chief Executive Officer
Cameron Penman, Head, Wheel-Trans
Matt Hagg, Manager, Customer Policy, Strategy & Foresight
Dean Milton, Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Wheel-Trans
Levenson Lincoln, Assistant Manager, Customer Service, Wheel-Trans
Heather Brown, Director, Customer Experience
David Lo Presti, Manager, Contracted Taxi Services, WheelTrans
Jeff Short, Senior Accessibility Planner
Lodon Hassan, Divisional Manager, Customer Service, Wheel-Trans
Shima Eghanian, Operations Manager, Streetcar Maintenance
Adrian Grundy, Senior Communications Advisor, Corporate Communications
Warren Rupnarain, Accessibility Consultant, Diversity
Omar Jabbar, Program Manager, Wheel-Trans
Daniela Jimenez, Acting Manager, Human Rights
Giuseppe Lombardi, Manager of Bus and Maintenance Training
Ross Visconti, Project Manager, Wheel-Trans
Alexandra Nicastro, Administrative Assistant, Wheel-Trans
Sneha Madhuri, Communications Advisor, Corporate Communications

Items Discussed

1. Call to Order / Attendance
2. Land Acknowledgement
3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest
4. Approval of Agenda
5. Review and Approval of December 14, 2023 Minutes
6. Remarks from TTC Executive – Rick Leary, Chief Executive Officer
7. Remarks from ACAT Chair
8. Wheel-Trans Transformation & COVID-19 update from Cameron Penman
9. 2024 ACAT Executive Elections Results
10. Deputation: Nil
11. Review of Correspondence: Nil
12. 2024 ACAT Meeting Dates
13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Membership Announcements
    - Communications
    - Design Review
    - Service Planning
    - Wheel-Trans Operations
14. Outstanding Items
15. Other/New Business
    a. ACAT Meeting Method Update
16. Next Meeting – Thursday, February 29, 2024
17. Adjournment

1. Call to Order/Attendance 

Anita Dressler, ACAT Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m., welcomed attendees and attendance was taken.

2. Remarks from TTC Executive – Rick Leary, Chief Executive Officer 

Rick Leary noted it was good to be able to attend another ACAT meeting, the first meeting of 2024. He congratulated the Chair and welcomed new members. He noted that you never stop learning as you progress through the years, and how much ACAT and their subcommittees have assisted everyone in learning more about how to take better action, for both the conventional system and those that require a different solution. He was the first to admit that they do not do everything right, but that life is a learning journey that everyone is on. He felt that the TTC is heading in the right direction and working towards what is right and advocates for TTC being a transparent organization. He noted that they don’t hear issues that they had in the past, this is because they face these issues and deal with them. He thanked the members for the journey they are taking together.

Anita Dressler thanked Rick for attending the meeting and encouraged him to attend as often as possible. She thanked him for the kind words and the supreme support that the TTC staff gives ACAT.

3. Land Acknowledgement 

A member read the Land Acknowledgement.

4. Declaration of Conflict of Interest 

Nil.

5. Approval of Agenda 

Angela Marley brought a motion to approve the agenda with the change to move Item 6, Remarks from the TTC Executive Rick Lear, to be item 2, Debbie Gillespie seconded. Carried.

6. Review and Approval of December 14, 2023 Minutes 

Anita Dressler asked to amend the minutes and add Roberta Butler’s name to the list of attendees. Mei Hung brought a motion to approve the minutes of December 14, 2023 as amended, Bobbi Moore seconded. Carried.

7. Remarks from ACAT Chair 

The Chair welcomed everyone back to ACAT and welcomed the new members joining and rejoining. She commented that if the TTC Board meeting was any indication, it should be a busy and challenging year ahead. The members for the subcommittees have been chosen and will be announced later in the meeting. TTC staff was thanked for their support in the subcommittees now and in the past. On February 25, 2024 TTC Board, City Councillors and Mayor acknowledged International Holocaust Remembrance Day and February is Black history month. Buses and streetcars will display artwork honouring Black Canadians. This is the Year of the Dragon and TTC will celebrate this with artwork as well.

TTC has been challenged recently with the amount of construction in the City, which has impacted travel, but this is improving. Since Covid, the TTC has experienced an increase in discourteous behaviour and additional safety announcements have been added, but these will sometimes cause delays.

After the fire incident related to e-bike batteries on December 31, 2023, this has become a topic for conversation with Toronto Fire. One of the main issues is the lack of regulation. ACAT will be addressing a topic brought up last year, the removal of the stop at 250 Davenport Road and there was a suggestion that by adding a gate to provide easier access to the new stop would help residents.

The Chair noted it is fortunate to have members with expertise, experience and enthusiasm that includes new members, old members and returning members. This is expected to be an exciting year for the TTC and ACAT.

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

Cameron Penman, Head of Wheel-Trans, welcomed all returning members and new ACAT members to the first General Meeting and looks forward to working with them. He congratulated the re-election of the Chair and the Vice-Chairs for ACAT 2024.

He provided a Wheel-Trans update stating that they are almost ready to issue the Request for Information for the new Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. These will be followed by a Request for Proposals for the new systems which are expected to be issued later this year. Regarding phases 5-8 of the Reservations, Scheduling and Dispatch software upgrades, Cameron explained that they are in the final stages of negotiation, and should have more information in the next few weeks that will define the timelines.

Re-registration for 2023 saw over 5,600 legacy customers re-registered and he thanked the team for their hard work. That means that there are approximately 5,000 more legacy customers that have to re-register into one of the three mandatory categories in the AODA.

Wheel-Trans continues to add 7M ProMaster buses to the fleet. There are now over 100 with only a few left to be delivered.

The Covid update included that Wheel-Trans will continue to monitor the public health environment over the coming months and will re-implement safety related COVID policies if deemed necessary by local public health officials and TTC Safety.

Questions and Comments from the Committee

A member asked for clarification on the 7M ProMaster buses, asking if there was more than one kind of bus. Cameron explained that there are two kinds of buses, the 6M ProMaster, which has been in service for four or five years and is a smaller minibus. The 7M Promaster buses have been delivered in the last couple of years; there are approximately 115 of each bus in service right now. By the end of 2024, Wheel-Trans will begin replacing the 6M ProMasters as they come to the end of their lifespan. The member asked if the 6M and 7M were built by the same manufacturer and Cameron confirmed both are built by Creative Carriage. He noted that the next step will be moving to electric buses; Wheel-Trans has two pilot vehicles coming into service later in the year and they will take back lessons from those buses so that in three years, they will start on delivery of electric buses.

A member asked if the buses have winter tires or if there is measures that they take to prepare and keep passengers safe. Cameron will take this back and report back to ACAT.

A member asked about the seatbelts on the new buses requiring the driver to strap in passengers by leaning over them and asked if there was a reason they had to be mounted that way. Cameron is unsure of the answer and will find out and report back to ACAT.

A member commented on issues with the sound cutting out while using the WheelTrans app, which seems to happen to people using the screen reader voiceover. Ross Visconti, Project Manager, Wheel-Trans, commented that this has been submitted to the app designer with the assistance of the CNIB providing an example and they will work on this to get it fixed.

9. 2024 ACAT Executive Election Results 

ACAT Executive elections were held on January 15, 2024. The Committee re-elected Anita Dressler as the Chair and elected Betty Rivington-Law and Erica Tanny as CoVice Chairs. Anita Dressler thanked the members for their trust and is glad to be working with Betty and Erica again as the Vice-Chairs. The Chair encouraged members to reach out if they need anything by phone or email at any time.

10. Deputation 

Nil.

11. Review of Correspondence 

Nil.

12. 2024 ACAT Meeting Dates 

The meeting dates were provided for members for the upcoming year 2024.

13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Updates: 

Communications Subcommittee (CS)

The members chosen for the Communications Subcommittee include: Michelle Pena Escobar, Oda Al-Anizi, Renate Bradley, Frank Lockhart, Lavarnan Mehavarnan, Maria Marin, Erica Tanny, Angela Marley and Tammy Adams. Heather Brown gave some context on what the Communications Subcommittee has been working on.

The next meeting will be held on February 1, 2024, at 1:00 p.m.

Design Review Subcommittee (DRS)

The members chosen for the Design Review Subcommittee include: Roberta Butler, Paul Manna, Tammy Adams, Debbie Gillespie, Angela Marley, Chau Sheung Wong, Lori Bailey, Wangari Muriuki, and Mei Hung. Jeff Short noted some past items that have been dealt with in 2023 and some items that might be upcoming.

The next meeting will be February 13, 2024 at 1:30 to 3:30 and meetings are planned for the 2nd Tuesday of every month.

Service Planning Subcommittee (SPS)

The members chosen for the Service Planning Subcommittee include: Anita Dressler, Wangari Muriuki, Betty Rivington-Law, Erica Tanny, Howard Wax, Debbie Gillespie, Bobbi Moore, and Maria Marin. Jeff Short noted some past items that have been dealt with in 2023 and some items that might be upcoming and some of the typical items that are brought to Service Planning. They are still working to find a date that fits the schedules of the members for their meetings.

Questions and Comments from the Committee

A member inquired about the news release regarding subway service in Scarborough and the delay to the busway that is meant to replace the Line 3 SRT (Scarborough Rapid Transit). Members wondered what the impact to Wheel-Trans users would be? What contingency plans have been implemented to ensure service impacts are limited?

Members also wondered if the continuous delays will impact the deployment of Family of 8 Services (FOS). Cameron Penman addressed some of the questions. In response to the first point about how Wheel-Trans will be affected by the busway, and stated that the door-to-door paratransit will not change or be greatly affected. It will mostly affect the FOS and conventional system riders. TTC is working with their conventional partners and the capital program that will be funding the busway as well as the Scarborough subway group and they will be working with them until the subway is built. TTC hopes that the Wheel-Trans customers will not be overly affected. TTC is always taking feedback and implementing changes where necessary, working with all departments to address issues that come up. There is no timeline for the implementation of mandatory FOS, and these issues will be a huge factor on the decision.

Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee (WTOS)

The members chosen for the Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee include: Lori Bailey, Mei Hung, Chau Sheung Wong, Howard Wax, Anita Dressler, Frank Lockhart, Lavarnan Mehavarnan, Bobbi Moore and Betty Rivington-Law. Levenson Lincoln gave a short explanation of what the WTOS subcommittee covers, what past projects were looked at and some potential upcoming projects.

The meeting dates will be the 2nd Wednesday of every month with the first meeting being scheduled for February 14, 2024 at 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Questions and Comments

A member suggested that Levenson Lincoln explain what WTOS stands for. He explained that it stands for Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee for the new members. A member also commented that the subcommittees are currently being held virtually, they will see if that continues.

14. Outstanding Items 

a. Recommendation for Honorarium:

This item was deferred to Q1 2024 for an update. Cameron Penman has reached out to the City Clerk regarding the honorarium decision made by the City. New members were given a historical perspective of the honorarium.

b. Scarborough City Centre Motion

Matt Hagg, Manager, Customer Policy, Strategy & Foresight, explained that ACAT will be part of a new round of Scarborough Subway Extension consultation this year, which may address the concerns raised in the motion. Alexandra Nicastro was asked to circulate the motion from thee March 2023 ACAT General Meeting for information.

c. Recommendation to Honour Sam Savona

This was brought up as Sam Savona was a founding member of ACAT and ACAT recommended a permanent memorial be displayed. Cameron Penman stated they are still looking into this and hope to have an answer by Q2 2024. A member recommended that there was a plaque created in 2014/2015 to honour Susan Davidson, a late ACAT Chair, that was intended to have room for additional names. They suggested looking for this and a picture that was presented to Sam Savona by the TTC Board that could also be added where appropriate.

15. Other/New Business 

a. ACAT Meeting Method Update

Alexandra Nicastro will send the meeting dates to the subcommittee members. The Chair reminded the subcommittees that each one has a chair, and the elections will be held at the first meeting.

b. Mandatory AODA Training

All employees and volunteers are required to complete the mandatory AODA training. Howard Wax recommended that ACAT members should be required to take the training annually, and Anita Dressler stated that this is good for refreshing everyone’s memories annually, as well as new members. Anita also advised that when the training is complete (the link was sent to members by Howard Wax), a certificate of completion is presented, which members are being asked to print or email to Alexandra Nicastro for inclusion in the ACAT files.

A motion by Howard Wax that the online AODA accessibility training required by the City of Toronto be adopted by ACAT to provide the free online training program annually and submit the certificate of completion at the end of the course to ACAT and the TTC.

Seconded by Bobbi Moore.

8 in favour
2 against
Carried

Jeff Short clarified that this discussion is whether the AODA training should be annual, not just for new members. It is the same training that the TTC staff is required to complete, but would now be considered annually for ACAT members, returning and incoming. Unconscious Bias training will be held at the same time as AODA training. A member commented that this means that every member will have to take this mandatory AODA training every year, and the City staff and TTC staff only have to take 10 it once.

This doesn’t make sense and this member did not see the point in doing this training annually. Discussion of the unconscious bias training will follow this meeting “in camera.”

16. Next Meeting 

The next ACAT General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 29, 2024.

17. Adjournment 

The meeting was adjourned on a motion by Bobbi Moore at 2:40 p.m.

Cindy Edwards Recording Secretary