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A Winnipeg woman who relies on Transit Plus says a construction project outside her home left her waiting for a ride that had been cancelled without notice, and forced her to use a new pickup location she says doesn’t feel safe.
Trish Coyle, 67, lives on Sherbrook Street. Construction crews began building a new protected bike lane outside her building earlier this summer.
She says Transit Plus had continued picking her up at the building after construction began, but that changed in late August.
Coyle had planned to take a trip to Sherbrook Pool on Aug. 24. When the vehicle didn’t arrive, she called Transit Plus.
“I was waiting there, and I got a text message saying that my ride would be there, to get ready to board. It didn’t show up,” Coyle said. “I phoned them. It’s been cancelled because of the construction.”
She says she was frustrated because Transit Plus had picked her up at the location for weeks despite ongoing construction outside.
Transit Plus offered alternative pickup locations, including 255 Sherbrook St. and a nearby McDonald’s.
Coyle says the Sherbrook location didn’t work because the building is locked. She now uses the McDonald’s as a pickup site, which she says is preferable because she can wait inside and use the washroom.
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Transit Plus user raises safety concerns over new pickup location
Transit Plus user Trish Coyle says construction disrupted her service and left her with a new pickup location she considers unsafe. The City of Winnipeg says the change is necessary for safety.
But getting to and from the new pickup location has raised safety concerns.
Coyle says a man tried to hit her while she was returning from McDonald’s last week.
“This area can be very bad. There’s a lot of drug use, a lot of unhappy people in this area … And most of them just mind their own business. But you get this one — I saw his fist balling up. It scares me,” she said.
Coyle says she and her partner, Rhéal L’Heureux, use Transit Plus three or four times a week, including for medical appointments.
“Why should I have to do it [go to another location]? It’s supposed to be door to door, and there’s nothing impeding the vehicles,” she said.
Construction made original location unsafe: city
Winnipeg Transit says when it cannot safely provide service at a customer’s regular pickup location, it finds an alternative location.
An inspection at 279 Sherbrook St. in June found construction had paused and Transit Plus could safely provide service there, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
When construction resumed in late August, the location was deemed no longer safe.
Transit says it considered alternatives and chose the McDonald’s site because it “provides a supervised indoor environment where the customer can wait until the scheduled pickup, at which point the driver can escort them directly to the vehicle.”
The chair of the city’s public works committee says the change is an unfortunate consequence of adding the protected bike lane.
“This sounds like it’s nowhere near as convenient as walking out your front door … But this is what happens in the changing, growing city,” Coun. Janice Lukes told CBC News in an interview.
Lukes says her understanding is that the change is temporary and that a loading zone will return once construction is finished.
Advocates say safety should be part of planning
Patrick Stewart, a consultant with Winnipeg’s Independent Living Resource Centre, says the situation highlights the need for better co-ordination between construction projects, Transit Plus and the people who rely on the service.
Júlia Valença Schoen, chair of the Manitoba League for Persons with Disabilities, says accessibility should be part of construction planning.
“Construction doesn’t just happen overnight…. It is planned for,” she said.
Valença Schoen says there should be a conversation about maintaining essential services for people who rely on Transit Plus before construction begins, and that planning should consider safety.
“The only person that really should have the ultimate say on whether this location is accessible and/or safe should be the person using this,” she said.
Coyle says she doesn’t trust that her original pickup location will be restored once construction is finished.
“I just don’t trust them, if they can cancel when I’m waiting for a ride,” she said.