Calgary family blasts transit service for stranding daughter who uses wheelchair

A Calgary family is calling for Calgary Transit Access to be overhauled, after the special needs service stranded their daughter, who uses a wheelchair, at a day camp.

Transit Access, with15,000 customers in the city,says it was switchingover to a new software program andencountered glitches. But Christina Ryan is frustrated with what she and her partner, Ron Taylor, say has been an ongoing problem.

• Council approves steep discount on Calgary Transit passes for those living in poverty

The most recent incident, says Ryan, involved her 17-year-old daughter Emily,and other campers who wereleft waitingfor a ride home for up to 90 minutes on Monday.

Emilyhas Down syndrome, uses a wheelchair and is non-verbal.

Ryan isworried for her daughter's safety.

"They're human beings. They're beings that can't speak, can't talk, can't walk and cannot find advocacy for themselves," she said. "That's the worst, shameful part of it.

"Someone is going to end up seriously injured or dead, you know, before someone does something. I just want them to fix up the program," she said.

Ryan also said theywere not given notice of the new scheduling system andheard that there were hundreds of other Accessclients across the city who had long wait times and that it was impossible to get through to the call centre.

'Gambling with her health'

Ron Taylor, Ryan's partner, told the CalgaryEyeopeneron Wednesday that he'd arranged for Emily to be picked up, but an hour later received a call from the camp telling him the bus still had not shown up.

"We had to scramble to go pick her up and later we found out that Access had called and rescheduled for a time well after the camp had closed." he said. "So they offered up an an excuse that they had a new system and it had a glitch."

"It's not the first timeit's frequent,it's bi-weekly. For them to claim that this is a one-time glitch is absolutely false. This is a recurring issue. I'm not surprised that this happened but it's always a bit of asurpriseto get that call oh, we gotta go.

"Fortunately, this last one was only an hour, but we've had instances where she'd be at her swimming therapy and this is in the winter and two and a half hours later discover that she's not been picked up and the facility has closed. She'd be out in the snow waiting. And I don't have to explain the physical harm that could come to a fragile person waiting out in the snow in winter."

Taylor says it's a dangerous situation for someone likeEmily who has frequent seizures. She also has astrict schedule of medications.

"They're gambling with her health. Fortunately, nothing so far has happened but we don't want to get the call that something has. It's a matter of time."

Glitches in software system

Calgary Transit Access says a new software system that books and schedules trips causedthedelays.

"Wewere implementing a new system upgrade that helps us book and schedule the trips, and with some technology issues, some trips had to be rescheduled," said Calgary Transit spokesperson Sherri Zickefoose. "There was also a human error that contributed to trips having to be rescheduled and that led to more delays."

Zickefoosesays they aremaking progress in resolving the glitches and expect service to return to normal in a few days.

"We care about our customers and it is regrettable. We're committed to customers to provide reliable and helpful, informative and easy to use service.They've come to rely on that and we want to continue deliver that to them," Zickefoose said.

Taylor says this can't be blamed on a one-time glitch.

"This isn't the first time Calgary Access has managed to drop the ball en masse and that's the only reason it's getting the attention it is."

Taylor has been in contact with other parents on social media who refuse to use the service because of the continuing problems and "because it is absolutely not safe for the child."

Ideally, he would like to work with Access to get to the bottom of the problem.

"I'd like dialogue.Wewant to work with them to fix the system. It's obviously broken. When we call with our concerns, it turns into a sick game of finger-pointing and self-preservation. That's not what we're looking for."

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|'I wouldn't do it': Why you may not want to eat crayfish lurking in Calgary waterways
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|World's oldest Komodo dragon in captivity dies at Calgary Zoo