Not enough space for wheelchairs on buses, people with disabilities say

Some people with disabilities in Thunder Bay, Ont. say there's not enough room for wheelchairs and scooters on Thunder Bay buses, andsome people are being left behind in extreme heat and cold.

Thunder Bay Transit told the city's Accessibility Advisory Committee earlier this year that 90 people using wheelchairs, scooters and strollers were left at bus stops in 2015.

That's too many, committee member John Paul Gamache told CBC News.

"You shouldn't have to leave people behind," he said.

"People have a right to ride the bus not to sit outside waiting for you guys," Gamache said, adding that he personally once sat outside for40 minutes in freezing weather because a bus couldn't accommodate him.

Thunder Bay Transit should dispatch extra buses to pick up those left behind, he added.

'Are we working towards it? Absolutely'

Transit's supervisor of customer care and administrative services, Dana Earle, said such a system is on the horizon, but there's no timeline for it yet.

"To say that we have something in place like that right now? We do not. Are we working towards it? Absolutely," she said.

Transit officials met with the Accessibility Advisory Committee earlier this summerto hear people's concerns.

Gamache expressed dissatisfaction with the response so far.

"They're like, 'Oh, we're trying to work out our issues,'" he said.

"I don't think that they actually see what the person in the wheelchair is facing on a daily basis," he added. "If they were in a wheelchair themselves, then they would realize."