This London senior is trapped at home relying on LTC's 'impossible' paratransit service

Visiting friends, shopping and getting to appointments are everyday activities for many Londoners — but for Angie Ryan, they've come to a near halt. 

Problems booking paratransit are worse than she's seen in 25 years, and it's limiting her quality of life, said the 71-year-old who uses a wheelchair. She started using the service at about the same time the London Transit Commission (LTC) took it over in 1997.  

The specialized transit service offers door-to-door transportation for people with a disability that prevents them from using regular bus service. But trips are not guaranteed, according to the LTC, leaving people like Ryan spending hours on the phone trying to book, often with no other option. 

"It's really difficult for me to go grocery shopping or other appointments I really need," said Ryan, who lives with Friedreich's ataxia, a rare genetic disease that deteriorates muscles.

"Now it's pretty impossible," she said. "I can't go on errands, or I can't meet up with friends. It's just not available to me."

Ryan used to go out about three times a week, but that changed last year when trips got harder and harder to book. It used to take about 10 minutes, she said. Now, it can take hours — with no success. 

After four days of trying, she was unable to book a ride to a specialist medical appointment in November and had to foot a nearly $100 bill for an accessible taxi. 

"Paying for the taxi fare is really difficult on a limited income and as a senior," she said. 

Specialized transit rides can be booked on the phone up to three days in advance, starting at 7 a.m. on weekdays. Ryan said she usually gets a busy signal for the first hour, followed by 20 minutes on hold. Once she gets through, the time slot she needs is usually already taken. 

Her speech is slower in the mornings due to her illness, and she's had staff hang up on her because of difficulty understanding her, she said. 

'It's frustrating and exhausting'

Paratransit woes are all too relatable for Ashton Forrest, 36, who uses a mobility scooter and has scleroderma, a rare, incurable autoimmune disease.

She's being honoured on this year's Mayor's New Year's Honours list for her accessibility advocacy but isn't sure she can make it to the ceremony on Jan. 24 due to difficulties booking paratransit. 

"It's frustrating and exhausting," she said.

"If I don't get a ride, it influences my ability to work, my ability to attend school, my ability to engage with the community," said the master's student at Western University. 

"We're being told, well, that's just the way it is," said Forrest, who has sat on the city of London's accessibility advisory committee. 

"Disabled people have lives, and we deserve to be able to engage in our lives in the way that we feel we should and shouldn't be restricted.

"We certainly, you know, feel our customer's frustration," said Kelly Paleczny, general manager of LTC. 

She said the LTC's contracted service provider is short drivers for the number of buses that should be on the road, though she could not say how many drivers are needed. She added that it takes time for the provider to hire and train new employees. 

Paleczny said the telephone system was upgraded two years ago, and the LTC is currently looking at options for booking online. That commitment was made in 2020 in the LTC's annual accessibility report, with a note at the time that it may not be equitable as "not all registrants of the service have access to the internet."

"[It] takes time to roll out and make sure that it's going to work in a fair and equitable manner for all of the registrants," she said. 

There are about 11,000 people registered to use the service. LTC runs 32 specialized service vehicles on weekdays, 23 on Saturdays and 13 on Sundays, according to LTC.  

"We would like to have a lot more service out there to be able to pick people up and get them where they need to go, you know, when they'd like to get there. We're doing everything we can. It's just going to take time."