Challenges: Subway stations in Toronto

If you ever have the chance to travel on the subway in Toronto, then you might as well brace yourself for a challenging experience.  Not only will you encounter tons of folks walking and running in every direction but you will also encounter all kinds of other obstacles.

For someone who is vision impaired, I have had the opportunity to travel on this subway in different ways.  That is, I did it when I had functional vision and now I continue to do it as someone with almost no vision.  I use my vision to help me navigate heavy traffic in the subway stations.  I use it to help me cope and I use it to help me pack huge packages of patience as I prepare to travel on the Toronto subway.

I am afraid that it is only going to get more challenging with time.  Of course, you can choose the times when traffic is at its lowest, if you have that option or opportunity to do so.

Let's say between 10 am and 2 pm would be the best times to travel as freely as you can.  Trust me when I tell you that it is a pure luxury when you, as a vision-impaired person, can travel without too much trepidation.

Once you understand how the lines go, from east to west and from north to south, you can find your way around quite easily.  The lines are quite long but that's how it is for a large city like Toronto.  Stops are announced as the subway arrives at each station and this helps a lot.  Seats are quite comfortable and if you are unable to find a seat then you need to hang on to one of the many poles in the subway.

You may or may not find a good Samaritan who would be willing to give up their seat for you as a vision-impaired person.  It all depends on whether or not their heads are either buried in a book or their eyes are glued to an idevice or that airbuds are stuck in their ears.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day. 

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Which Subway Stop Am I At?

For those with vision, it is not an issue for them to know which stop they are at when traveling on the bus or subway, but for me it is. If I travel by train there is no problem because the conductor announces each stop. Up until a year ago, blind and visually-impaired persons living in Toronto had to depend on several techniques to tell them where they were when traveling by bus or subway but since then -- thanks to the hard and tireless advocacy of David Lepovsky, a blind lawyer -- this has changed.

David had to lobby for over 10 years in order to get the Toronto Transit Commission to implement a system whereby stops along bus and subway routes would be announced. The TTC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting against, David but in the end they lost their case and David prevailed. This case should never have gone this far but I guess the TTC was determined to be stubborn. David prevailed against Goliath.

So, how do blind and visually-impaired persons overcome the challenge of knowing which stop is the correct one for them?

They can count the stops as they travel along. On the subway it is easier as the subway always stops at preset locations, but for a bus it is different because the driver does not always stop at the same location. If there is no one standing at a pre-designated bus stop as the bus approaches, the driver often drives by and moves on to the next stop. If this occurs, it is then difficult for a person without vision to know if a stop has been bypassed or not. Before David won his case, some bus drivers used to announce the stops but those without vision could not always depend on the driver to announce the stops.

Within the last few years, there have been some exciting breakthroughs in the form of talking GPS gadgets for blind and visually-impaired persons. However, they are not cheap and most blind and visually-impaired persons are unable to afford them. There are two specific ones that I am personally aware of and these can help a blind person to plot their route and familiarize themselves with their immediate surroundings. Blind and visually-impaired persons can use these devices to make traveling easier and more enjoyable and they can also become more independent as well. You can learn more about these exciting devices by visiting www.humanware.com.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and spread the word that blind and visually-impaired persons can and do travel around on their own.