Concerns with transit, homelessness raised at Halifax accessibility town hall

People with disabilities in Halifax had their say at a meeting Tuesday night, raising concerns with transit, homelessness, and developments that aren't following accessibility standards.

The Halifax Regional Municipality's accessibility advisory committee hosted its annual town hall at the Central Library, where a panel of municipal staff spoke to the crowd of about 50 people.

"Evenings like tonight are exceptionally welcomed by the municipality because it gives us direction. We know from the community where we need to go," committee chair Andrew Taylor said after the event.

"We had a lot of spirited discussion about issues and challenges that the community faces."

David Nantau, supervisor of bus operations for Halifax Transit's Access-A-Bus program, said technology upgrades mean they can now track where the buses are and better accommodate people looking for a same-day trip.

Nantau said ridership is up 10 per cent compared to last year, with on-time performance at 94 per cent. Transit will also launch a new online booking portal early in the new year, Nantau said.

But there were questions from residents about Halifax's progress on updating bus stops. In some cases, a concrete pad is installed at stops that aren'tconnected to a sidewalk.

"Your front wheels of your wheelchair or your walker may not be able to handle that curb or that side of the road or whatever," Taylor said.

"It's something that's supposed to help you actually ends up hurting you, and we want to avoid that as much as possible."

Nantau said they are working to bring all stops up to the same accessible standard as set out under the 2018 Canadian Standards Association (CSA) rules. That document says stops must "be connected to the pedestrian path."

That work is about 70 per cent done, Nantau said, and they are hoping to have all stops brought up to this standard by 2030.

Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon ofWaverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley said during the meetingher residents have told her the current Access-A-Bus eligibility criteria of living within 1,000 metres of a bus stop is too restrictive. She said with no service in the area besides a park-and-ride, they are worried they will be denied door-to-door service.

"How do we make sure Access-A-Bus is actually fully inclusive?" she said.

Max Chauvin, Halifax's director of housing and homelessness, said they often see people with disabilities among the more than 200 people who are sleeping rough in the city now.

In themost recent survey, Chauvin said 36 people self-identified as having a disability, 39 per cent have a learning disability or cognitive challengeand 22 per cent had an after-birth brain injury.

Resident Celine Vautour said it's clear the department of community services is not supporting people with disabilities with enough financial assistance, and asked whatHalifax staff were doing to push the province on the issue.

"It's just way too inhumane. Like I have to see a tent in the middle of the Commons and I see disability gear outside of the tentlike this breaks my heart, you know," Vautour told the panel.

Chauvin agreed that "people don't have enough money." He said he speaks with community services multiple times a week, and shares the reality on the ground with the province.

City staff connect people with disabilities with physio, medical care and other supports, Chauvin said, but the situation is "heartbreaking." He added that they are now seeing people in their 70s and 80s who are homeless for the first time in their lives.

Housing, businesses must followstandards

Chauvin said a major problem is finding accessible housing, since those units are often $2,400 a month and out of reach for many people. Even if an apartment is described as accessible, Chauvin said he knows of one that is accessible by stairs.

Taylor saidit's important to make sure housing developments and businesses followaccessibilitystandards.

"Yes, you can get to our restaurantbut we have an accessible entrance that goes through the kitchen," Taylor said.

Erica Fleck, HRM's director of emergency management, said staff with her unit and in the equity and inclusion office now work closely with planning staff to ensure new developments going up in Halifax don't repeat mistakes of the past.

A few residents said they appreciated how quickly the city's vulnerable persons registry was brought in after it was suggested by the public at last year's meeting.

But Fleck saidthey are working on outreach because only 72 people have signed up since it launched Nov. 8.

Fleck said they have also brought in Braille materials for the first time, including in emergency brochures, with plans to expand to other city materials eventually.

Darren Young,manager of major projects for property, fleet and environment, said municipalstaff are in the middle of design work for the second phase of the pool project on the Halifax Common. That will see a whole new playground and "interactive area" with accessible features, Young said, and thegoal is to open next fall.