Advocate gives new LRT an A+ for accessibility
System praised for ease of use, effective signage, helpful staff and more
When the Confederation Line first opened, Max Brault was too scared to ride it.
“That seems funny for a grown man to say he was too scared to take the LRT, but if something were to happen I’d be stuck in there,” said Brault, 49, who has used a wheelchair since his 20s because of his degenerative spinal muscular atrophy.
But after a close friend, who served as an eye for potential barriers, gave the train a thumbs-up, Brault went all in.
“It gets a good A+ from me,” Brault said after an unofficial and informal audit with the Citizen of the LRT’s accessibility. “They nailed the really good things. It’s fully accessible, it’s spacious, it’s very well lit, and it has good demarcation on the floor for the visually impaired.
“I’m looking at it from the point of view of a guy who uses a chair and I know someone’s going to say ‘Max, you forgot about ...,’ but I think they’ve done a really good job.”
Riding the train with a man in a wheelchair makes you see the O -Train with new eyes. Able-bodied commuters probably don’t even notice the two-toned, lowglare floors in the train cars, but for Brault the colour is like a roadmap pointing straight to the designated spot to park his chair.
The tactile wayfinding tiles on the station floors lead someone with visual impairment through the station, from the fare gates to the elevator — not to the elevator doors, mind you, but to the up and down buttons, which a traveller needs to find first.
Audio call-outs of stations are essential for the visually impaired, while the video screens and easily visible signs help guide the deaf and hard of hearing.
One particular fear of Brault’s was crossing the gap between the station platform and the train, but he was pleased to see the LRT doors were level with the platform and easily negotiated by his chair.
He’s also impressed to see that all 13 stations have dual elevators, so there is coverage if one breaks down. That’s essential for someone who is unable to use stairs or escalators.
Brault, an employment-equity specialist and a well-known advocate for accessibility, was once invited to the United Nations in New York for a conference. Finding accessible transport from Newark airport to the city was difficult, but navigating the New York subway was nearly impossible. He arrived by subway at UN headquarters to find the only elevator to the surface was broken and no one who could tell him what stations to go to to find one. Brault spent several hours trapped underground during a summer heat wave, finally emerging exhausted and drenched in sweat, kilometres from his destination.
“I’m always apprehensive of anything new because of my experience going to cities like New York and Chicago that weren’t accessible,” he said.
One shortcoming he noted at his home station at Blair was the north side of the station near Gloucester Centre is still served by the original old, small and often unreliable elevator. “I understand that they were trying to limit the cost, but it’s too bad that they didn’t pay for a new elevator there,” he said.
Accessibility along the Confederation Line was planned from the beginning, with details of all the features outlined on the OC Transpo website. During this unofficial
They nailed the really good things. It’s fully accessible, it’s spacious, it’s very well lit, and it has good demarcation on the floor for the visually impaired.
audit, OC Transpo staff at every station were quick to offer guidance and assistance.
Brault doesn’t drive and has depended on his wife to drive him to and from work, which is difficult on days when he has to stay late. He said he thinks switching to transit will be liberating.
“In Vancouver, I know that if I can get to a SkyTrain station I can get to anywhere in the city,” he said. “I can see that happening with Ottawa’s LRT when it’s fully open.”
The O -Train offers so much more mobility to people with disabilities that Brault said he thinks those responsible for affordable housing in the city should make being close to an LRT station a consideration in their planning.
“It’s making me think a lot about changing my life and how I get to work,” he said. “That’s a pretty big statement to make.” bcrawford@postmedia.comTwitter.com/getBAC