Anti-Poverty Group Takes on Toronto Transit

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is an organization which works to help poor people in that province. Their approach gives a welcome redefinition to the often overworked expression "direct action" . Some OCAP campaigns include a "mass panhandle" in the Toronto underground shopping system, known locally as the PATH, scheduled for December 12th. OCAP is also taking on the Toronto Transit Commission which has the dubious honour of exacting some of the highest fares for any public transit system in the world. Recently the TTC raised their single adult fare from $2.10 to $2.75, about a thirty percent increase, while social assistance recipients receive no increase in their allowance for transport. A monthly pass for most adults is $109.00 with a reduction to $91.25 for seniors and students. Here is the organizing statement for a December 7th demo against fare increases.

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Come tell the city that we need access to transit. Poor and disabled people are tired of being unable to access transit. Come to City Hall, Friday, December 7th at 4 o'clock and demand public transportation be made public for all of us. Right now, the TTC is:

EXPENSIVE: TTC fares have been raised at least three times in the past year. The TCC costs twice what it did ten years ago. Toronto has among the highest transit fares in the world. This impacts everyone. However, poor people are hit the hardest. On top of fare increases, most people on social assistance didn't get an increase in their transportation allowances, making poor people even poorer.

INACCESSIBLE: Only 40% of subway stations are accessible. Of the 69 subway stops, only 27 have elevators. Without elevators, access is denied or made dangerous to wheelchair uses, different forms of mobility, people with baby strollers, etc. Large sections of the city have zero access and even stations labeled 'accessible' often aren't; elevators and escalators are frequently out of service for weeks, forcing people to go hours out of their way just to get around a flight of stairs. No streetcars have lifts or ramps. Only 60% of bus routes are accessible. New buses with lifts or raps are taken out of service in the harshest winter weather because old buses 'handle better'. According to a TTC accessibility report from 2006, the buses will be accessible in 2010; the subway stations by 2020 and the streetcars by 2025. We shouldn't have to wait.

DISCRIMINATORY: Many TTC drivers are openly discriminatory. Transit operators have been known to pass by people of colour waiting for a streetcar or bus; people are referred to as 'crazy' or 'psycho'; and, wheelchair users are often referred to simply as 'wheelchairs'. TTC operators have refused service to disabled people or only begrudgingly provided available accommodations. All of this shows that we are not thought of or treated as people but as 'problems' or 'threats'.

Now the City is planning to cut the transportation money people on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) get for volunteering. The TTC is already too expensive and inaccessible; now, they are working to make it even harder for disabled people to use transit. The loss of this money means that already poor disabled people will be forced to stay home because they can't afford to go out.

This demonstration is organized by DAMN 2025, a group of disabled people and supporters fighting for justice and dignity. To get involved e-mail damn2025@gmail.com

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