High turnover at Transit Plus blamed for assessment backlog

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Peggy

Disability advocates sounded the alarm at Winnipeg city hall over Transit Plus users experiencing long delays for assessments to receive accommodations, leading to a loss of trust between the accessible transit service and the community.

Melissa Graham, the executive director of the Manitoba League for Persons with Disabilities, told the executive policy committee on Wednesday there is a backlog of people waiting to be assessed for accommodations, which has resulted in people not getting approval for the types of vehicles and equipment they need.

“For people that experience pain when using Transit Plus vehicles of a type that doesn’t work for them, at a certain point they’re going to stop using Transit Plus, and maybe stop leaving their homes, because they don’t have a means of transportation in the city that works for them,” Graham told reporters.

Patrick Stewart with the Independent Living Resource Centre says he’s heard the backlog had reached as many as 100 people, with waits for assessments as long as six months.

Transit officials told reporters at the meeting they were working on the backlog and updating their eligibility criteria, and had reduced the wait list to roughly 25 people.

Part of the problem is related to turnover, as five occupational therapists responsible for assessments have left in the last year. The city has contracted out four of those positions.

“We’re just finalizing some review with [the legal department] to ensure that we’re meeting the human rights accommodations that are reasonable and are outside of undue hardship,” said Teresa Platt, manager of client services with Winnipeg Transit.

Difficulty when needs change

The people waiting for accommodation assessments have already been approved to use Transit Plus, Graham said. The difficulty arises when the needs of those users change due to their physical ability.

“Some people have difficulty getting into the cars that may be assessed originally as being able to use the cars,” she said.

“There’s been also issues with people needing mobility devices that may not be your typical mobility device or … having a support person with them and not really being sure how that works.”

In some cases, Transit Plus users’ health conditions have worsened due to not receiving accommodations they requested, Stewart said. The issue may rise to the level of a human rights violation, he said.

“We don’t really want to say where we’re going with it, but there are outside bodies that can bring attention to it if the city doesn’t have … the capacity to do so.”

The city receives advice from the community on its accessible transit service through the Transit Plus Advisory Committee, but Graham said people don’t feel comfortable bringing complaints to the committee, which includes Transit Plus officials responsible for providing the service they rely on.

The fact that the city has contracted out assessments also raises concerns for Stewart and Graham.

“We don’t even know who these occupational therapists are, what they were hired for, what kind of criteria they have. We have no information about them,” Graham said.

Platt says most other transit services contract out their assessments, and having outside contractors do the work improves transparency by having a “neutral” party making the decision.

Public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes says it’s important for the community and department to work together.

“I’m hearing that there’s a struggle going on right now that we need to somehow figure out what’s going on and get a better working relationship.”

Council also ordered interim CAO Sherwood Armbruster to look into the concerns.