Syrian refugee in wheelchair blocks TTC bus after several pass him by
Buses full, but transit control, Wheel-Trans not called into action as required, TTC spokesman says
The TTC has admitted it made a mistake after a Syrian refugee felt compelled to park his wheelchair in front of a bus, after he said several wouldn't let him board as he waited 90 minutes in the sweltering heat Monday.
Mohamad Alhaj Abdullah said he took action after the drivers of six buses indicated they were full. Some didn't stop, while others did — with those drivers telling him their vehicles were too crowded.
Wheelchair bound person had to resort to this after waiting/ be 'passed by', by the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TTC?src=hash">#TTC</a> for 2 hrs!! <a href="https://t.co/y26xczlu6R">pic.twitter.com/y26xczlu6R</a>
—@cclefplayHe began his wait at Redcliff Boulevard and Kipling Avenue around 3 p.m. with his 10-year-old son at the start of rush hour.
After waiting an hour and a half in the sun, he finally got fed up.
"That's when I got in front of the [last] bus and told the driver, 'Excuse me, but I will not move' and [asked him] to find a solution for me," he said. "I just wanted to send a message, when you are disabled."
That's when another man tweeted out a photo of Abdullah blocking the bus.
After about 10 minutes, passengers of the bus convinced the man to move out of the way. Abdullah, who arrived in Canada as a refugee seven months ago, says he then took a taxi home.
He said he used Wheel-Trans to get his son to a dentist's office, but he couldn't take the service home because it needs to know specific times for a pickup and he didn't know how long the appointment would last.
Abdullah has used a wheelchair since his spine was badly injured in a bomb blast in Damascus two years ago.
Shouldn't have happened, TTC says
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross admits the situation wasn't handled properly and the transit commission is trying to figure out why.
"It was just the start of rush hour and the buses were very crowded and we were unable to accommodate this gentleman and his wheelchair," Ross said. "What we are looking at is why the protocols that we have in place were not applied to this."
Ross said if a bus is full the driver is supposed to call the transit control centre to see if the next bus can accommodate whoever in a wheelchair is waiting.
If the next bus is also full, the driver should then call Wheel-Trans and someone at the service will arrange a ride.
Ross said that didn't happen, "and we need to understand why."