Disabled to make claim on transit access
A group of disabled folks plan to embark on a lawsuit against the STM to demand better transit accessibiity. The STM promised a few years ago to retrofit its metro stations with elevators, but the process has bogged down in budget limits.
Nobody at the STM wants to come out and say that if they made elevators a priority, it would mean pretty much stopping all other improvements to the STM for years, and there are too many able-bodied passengers demanding better service for them to get away with this.
walkerp 12:32 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
Given that it literally took them several years to repair the escalator in the Mont-Royal station, I’m not too surprised that they are having some difficulty with installing elevators.
Seriously, what is the issue with escalators and the STM?
Robert J 14:15 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
I imagine escalators (especially down escalators) are pretty low on the list of priorities. They are badly underfunded and rely on tax-payers money, as is almost always the case with public transit. I would probably rather see the Anjou metro extension and the new rolling stock immediately than have any functioning escalators for that matter. Suffice to say there will always be compromises.
Kate 14:25 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
There has to be a balance. As someone said here recently, just try to climb out of Lucien l’Allier station via the stairs. Also I remember my mother having trouble with even fairly short staircases like the ones leading up from many station platforms – Villa-Maria, Sherbrooke and Beaubien come to mind but there are many that are designed so you’ve got to take stairs at some point. We need to make sure the system doesn’t exclude a growing number of people as the population gets older.
walkerp 14:46 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
It’s not that I care so much for the escalators in particular. I’m simply astounded at the length of time it took them to repair the escalator. The thing is, it wasn’t that they just shut it down. They seemed to be actively repairing it for several years. It was always in various stages of repair with workmen there for at least a year, if not two. Either do it and get it done or just close it down. I would love to see the budget and planning for those repairs.
Louis 16:44 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
Elevators are very convenient for parents with strollers, and indeed the only legal and safe way to get to the Metro, unless you get the kid out, fold the stroller and get down and up the stairs. Which is not a realistic option from my experience.
Michael 13:29 on 2012/02/01 Permalink
I was very surprised upon moving here that so few stations were wheelchair-accessible.
I know installing elevators isn’t a simple process, especially given how deep many of the stations are here, but I imagine anyone in a fauteuil roulant finds it hard to believe that the STM was voted the most “Outstanding Public Transportation System in North America.” If you have mobility issues and want to ride the train you can live near only what, 4 metro stations? Maybe that’s why Frère André and his healing powers is so venerated here…
I could see escalators as a poor substitute, perhaps – but they never go all the way to or from the platform!
Chris 09:20 on 2012/02/02 Permalink
Elevators are also great for getting one’s bike to/from the platform.