ACAT Meeting - June 27, 2024

Date:

Location:                               

Present:                                

Pool Members                     

Regrets:                                

TTC Representatives:        

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 April 25, 2024, and May 30, 2024, Minutes
6. Remarks from TTC Executive
7. Remarks from ACAT Chair
8. Wheel-Trans Transformation Update from Cameron Penman
9. ACAT Terms of Reference Proposed Changes
10. Outstanding Items
11. Deputation:Nil
12. Review of Correspondence:Nil
13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Updates
    1. Communications
    2. Design Review
    3. Service Planning
    4. Wheel-Trans Operations
14. Other/New Business
    1. Wheel-Trans Cross-Boundary Route Status Update
    2. AODA motion
    3. Wheel-Trans Access Hubs
15. Next Meeting – Thursday, July 25, 2024
16. Adjournment

6. Remarks from TTC Executive – Gary Downie, Chief Capital Officer 

Gary Downie, Chief Capital Officer announced that the Donlands Station elevator would be ready to transport passengers by next week, Castle Frank and Glencairn later this year. As soon as they have more information, they will pass this along to the ACAT members. Updates at Bloor-Yonge are being worked on, including the full height platform edge doors. When more information is available, the TTC would come back to the ACAT Committee. Gary noted that for now, the doors could only be installed on Line 1 as Line 2 does not have the ATC system to support the train stopping at the doors. TTC expects to take the business case for the pedestrian edge doors to the Board for an update later this year. Finally, TTC is working closely with Metrolinx on the Provincial subway projects to ensure compliance with the TTC accessibility and sign standard.

1. Call to Order/Attendance

Erica Tanny, ACAT Vice-Chair called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. Attendance was taken. 

2. Land Acknowledgement

A member read the Land Acknowledgement.

3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest

Nil.

4. Approval of Agenda

Motion to approve the agenda as amended on item 6:  Debbie Gillespie

Seconded:  Betty Rivington-Law

Carried:  agenda approved.  

5. Review and Approval of April 25, 2024 and May 30, 2024 Minutes

Motion to approve the Minutes of April 25, 2024 as amended: Betty Rivington-Law

Seconded:  Bobbi Moore

Carried: Approved.

Motion to approve the Minutes of May 30, 2024 as amended: Angela Marley

Seconded: Betty Rivington-Law

Carried: Approved.

7. Remarks from ACAT Chair

Erica Tanny, Acting Chair, gave a few updates. The TTC Board approved the March and April ACAT General minutes. The first was regarding themes that emerged from the subcommittees that involved people with sensory and audio issues and the effect of rerouting, either planned or unplanned.

Acting Chair noted the Executives are advocating to the TTC Board regarding issues that have been highlighted recently, specifically regarding immediate action on the High Park Seasonal route.

The Executives have also been advocating for a smooth transition between the One Fare Program’s participating transit agencies to assist people with disabilities ease of transferring between agencies. ACAT Executives are also advocating for the PRESTO support person card, balancing the concerns of the TTC Board on potential misuse of the card and equity and dignity to travel the transit system.

Questions and Comments

A member wondered about the process for the discussions at the subcommittee level on sensory disabilities would be conveyed to the Executives. Acting Chair explained they had not yet gotten this far.

A member asked for clarification on the support person card and the issues that were being discussed. It was confirmed that this included cross jurisdictional transitions that allow ease of all systems recognising the same card and fare.  Confirmation was provided that major issues are integration and ease of transition/use.

Acting Chair confirmed that the PRESTO fare payment card and the support person card is not tied together technologically and could be used separately. The concern is that not every customer has control of their support person card and this might open up issues with abuse.

A member asked for clarification on the Executives discussions regarding the High Park service. Acting Chair confirmed that the ACAT Executives pressed the importance of immediate action to provide accessible service at the station, and recommended it also stop at Keele Station, as well as High Park Station.

8. Wheel-Trans Transformation & Update from Cameron Penman

Cameron Penman, Head, Wheel-Trans, acknowledged that the Chair was absent, and gave best wishes that she is back in her role next month. 

Phases 5-8 of the Reservations, Scheduling, and Dispatch software upgrades are in expected next year.

Staff are meeting with the consultants in early July regarding the new Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems RFIs. The consultant will present a summary of their findings so staff are aware of options. The subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the new systems are expected to be posted later this year.

The re-registration campaign continues to progress successfully. Approximately 1,400 additional legacy customers have re-registered in 2024, the target is 3,000 for the year.

Wheel-Trans continues to add additional 7m ProMaster vehicles to the fleet, with only a few Friendly Buses remaining. They will then move on to their next project, upgrading their fleet of gasoline buses to electric.

Cameron confirmed they have all four travel trainers on board, which will put Wheel-Trans in a good position to deal with customer demand for Travel Training. Finally, July and August are recruitment months for ACAT, applications are live soon.

9. ACAT Updated Terms of Reference

Acting Chair noted that a few amendments to the Updated Terms of Reference were proposed, but the timeline is short to approve and recommended discussion of two items in order to move these ahead.

a. 2.1 and 2.2(d) ACAT Membership – GTA member

The discussion is around whether a position on ACAT should be either set aside or added for a member that does not reside in Toronto, but uses the TTC on a frequent basis. using cross-boundary transit.

Questions and Comments from the Committee.

A member stated they could see it both ways, the benefit of the information on the cross-border traffic and also that having an even number of members might make voting difficult. They also noted that if an item comes up from a different area, the person may have little input. Other transit agencies have their own advisory committees and it might be better to form a relationship with them to discuss cross-border issues.

A member commented that there should not be different degrees of ACAT members, full members should have all of the responsibilities and voting ability of items brought before them.

The members wondered what the rationale had been for raising this issue and Cameron Penman explained it had come up in the past.

A member raised the point that by restricting the membership to Toronto residency, you would be limiting that membership to people who could afford to live in Toronto. This would restrict people who live outside of Toronto due to financial constraints. Also, what about people who live outside of Toronto, but on one side of the street into a neighbouring area.

A member did note that ACAT welcomes deputations if membership is kept the same, which would give people the opportunity to speak to ACAT.

The recommendation was to defer this discussion to July and to continue with the next item.

b. ACAT Honorarium

Acting Chair noted items 12.2 to 12.4 were to be discussed. These included rewording of 12.2 to remove the reference to T4 slips and instead refer to current CRA laws. The Committee members agreed to this linguistic change.

Section 12.2.2 a member commented that this point is confusing a appears that members might get an honorarium based on attendance at meetings, which is not the case.

A member noted that this might be important for new members to understand. The Committee agreed that as long as this information is somewhere else, like orientation materials, it could be removed. This should also be a place for the T4 information. It was agreed to remove Section 12.2.2.

It was also agreed to remove the reference to the T4 in section 12.3.

Section 12.4 refers to Pool members receiving an Honorarium. TTC staff noted that the budget had not been extended to Pool members receiving the Honorarium, so this also adds budget constraints.

Although the Committee members acknowledged the important role that Pool members play in the work that ACAT did, it is important that this Terms of Reference be approved to go to the TTC Board next month. This item could be discussed for inclusion in the next revision.

Acting Chair assured Pool members that she would continue to raise that issue going forward and the Committee agreed to remove the wording in Section 12.4 that refers to Pool members for now and continue to review that going forward.

Motion to approve the amendments to Section 12 and the Terms of Reference is now approved to go forward to the Board:  Bobbi Moore

Seconded:  Betty Rivington-Law

Carried: Approved.

10. Outstanding Items

a. Scarborough Centre Station Motion

This item was deferred to Q3.

b. Sam Savona Tribute Update:

This item is deferred to 2025 for the completion of the elevators

11. Deputation

Nil.

12. Review of Correspondence

Nil.

13. Subcommittee Reports, Highlights and Updates:

Communications Subcommittee (CS)

There was no communications subcommittee meeting in June.

The next meeting will be held on July 4, 2024, at 1:00 p.m.

Design Review Subcommittee (DRS)

Lori Bailey provided the June 11, 2024 meeting update for the DRS.

Summary Highlights  

A presentation by Jeff Short, Senior Accessibility Planner, Strategy & Foresight, made a presentation on PRESTO accessibility features. Members had some suggestions for the machines that include relocating the jack to keep it clean. The SSE outstanding items log was updated to include any new information. Jeff also made a presentation on pinch points noted on the Eglinton Station Subway platform and subcommittee members made suggestions on improving safety.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 9, 2024, at 1:30 p.m.

Service Planning Subcommittee (SPS)

Debbie Gillespie, SPS Chair gave the report for the meeting held June 13, 2024.

Summary Highlights

Jasmine Eftakhari, Acting Manager for Service Planning provided a presentation regarding the High Park Seasonal Service. Member feedback included: lack of communication from the TTC to customers, implementation of any suggestions already posed by ACAT, and lack of access to an accessible station. Jeff Short provided an Outstanding item list and provided updates. Jeff also provided updates on the 5-year Accessibility Plan and the Public Forum on Accessibility.

The next meeting is July 16, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.

Wheel-Trans Operations Subcommittee (WTOS)

Mei Hung, WTOS Chair, gave the report for the meeting held June 12, 2024.

Summary Highlights         

Jasmine Eftakhari, Acting Manager for Service Planning provided a presentation regarding the High Park Seasonal Service. Dean Milton provided a summary of the 2024 Customer Service Satisfaction survey, which had a total of 2854 responses through both online and telephone interviews. Levenson Lincoln, Assistant Manager, Customer Service, Wheel-Trans provided a summary of the complaints for May, with a total of 290. The next meeting is scheduled for July 10, 2024.

14. Other/New Business

a. Wheel-Trans Cross-Boundary Route Status Update

Cameron Penman updated the Committee that this policy is being discussed to ensure equity and equality. He noted they were also working on reducing transfer times, which have been 30 minutes, down to 15 minutes. He noted there are a lot of considerations that would go into this decision, including financial and would report back any updates.

b. AODA Training Motion

Motion will be revisited at the next meeting.

c. Wheel-Trans Access Hubs

Acting Chair noted that this item was raised by the Chair at a past meeting. It was agreed that this item should go to Wheel Trans Operations Subcommittee for further discussion.

15. Next Meeting

Next ACAT General Meeting: Thursday, July  25, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.

16. Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 3:34 p.m. on a motion by: Wangari Muriuki

Cindy Edwards
Recording Secretary