Monthly Meeting Update for
February 20th, 2006
This newsletter/update is to keep members of CAN, or interested
parties, up to date on our monthly meeting, what we discussed, what our
plans are for the upcoming month, and any other pertinent information
covered during the meeting. We understand that not everyone is able to
attend a monthly meeting and hope that this will keep those interested
in CAN in the loop. Please let us know if you have any questions or
comments concerning our meetings and/or this update by e-mailing us at [email protected], or by phoning (604) 466-8771.
Thank you for you
interest. Your ideas, suggestions, and input will help to create
positive change in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Together we CAN!
We, at CAN, have made quite a bit of progress this past month. During
our meeting on February 20th we discussed our many projects and the
advancements made since our last meeting.
Our first topic of the evening was the parking situation at the Ridge
Meadows Hospital. After many phone calls to many different departments
and people in the Fraser Health Authority, we were able to get an
answer concerning the question of whether those with the SPARC placards
have to pay for parking at the Ridge Meadows Hospital. Don MacAlistar,
the Director of Protection Services for the Fraser Health Authority
(FHA), was apprised of the confusion surrounding this situation and
looked into it for CAN.
The confusion surrounding this subject concerns whether those with the
SPARC placard have to pay for parking while parked in the designated
handicap spots. Some people have been told that those with the SPARC
placards do not have to pay for parking anywhere on site. There was a
poster in the rehab department of the hospital notifying people that
“Persons with disabilities coming to Ridge Meadows Hospital may park
anywhere onsite, in any parking stall free of charge. Your approved
identification placard must be clearly visible in your vehicle to avoid
ticketing.” People were upset that they were not told about the free
parking until after they paid for their ticket. We hoped to clarify
the matter, and if the parking was indeed free for those with the SPARC
placard we hoped that the FHA would post signs at the parking machines
to notify people.
Don MacAlistar looked into the situation and explained that there is
no written policy concerning free parking for those with SPARC
placards. FHA’s written policy says that every person who parks in a
FHA parking lot must pay for the duration of their visit. Mr.
MacAlistar said that while there is no policy, written or otherwise,
concerning this matter it is understood that “if a person with a
disability is unable to purchase tickets their nonpayment will not be
enforced”. In other words while the FHA expects all visitors to pay
for their parking they do understand that some people with disabilities
are unable to use the ticket machines. If these people park without a
ticket, due to their inability to get a ticket from the machine, their
nonpayment will not be penalized. Mr. MacAlistar said that while there
is no written policy but there is leniency towards those with
disabilities.
While it is nice of the FHA to give us an answer concerning this
question it is not an answer that is available in writing, or which is
considered a ‘policy’. When suggested to Mr. MacAlistar that it is
hard to communicate a non-written, non-policy, to those who are
confused about the matter he said that the above quote could be used in
writing for the purposes of CAN newsletter, but that it would not be
available in writing from the FHA.
While this is not the most satisfactory conclusion to this question,
it is an answer, and we now have a person to go to if the problem of a
ticket occurs. Mr. MacAlistar stated that if anyone who was unable to
purchase a ticket due to their disability, and who had the proper SPARC
placard, was ticketed that they are to phone him and he will have the
ticket reversed. His phone number is (604) 587-3770.
Mr. MacAlistar did apologize for the confusion and the inconsistent
messages from the various departments. He assured CAN that the matter
would be looked into and that the various departments would be told
what the non-written, non-policy is. Please help others with the SPARC
placard know what the FHA’s stance is on parking. Since the FHA will
not advertise that they are forgiving in parking matters for those with
the SPARC placard who are unable to pay due to their disabilities it is
up to us to spread the word. If you know of anyone who has a problem
with parking, or a ticket please let us know about it.
The next item on our agenda was Translink. There was an article
written in The Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Times concerning the
communication between Translink and their customers. This article
contained quotes from CAN president Heather McCain. The Vancouver Sun
created a smaller version of this article and placed it in the
community section of their paper. The appearance of this article in
the Vancouver Sun elicited a response from Hansel Wang of Translink.
Hansel Wang’s title is ‘‘Engineer Program Manager, Transportation
Engineering, Road and Infrastructure Planning’. Mr. Wang was most keen
to help CAN in anyway possible. The various concerns of CAN and it’s
members were discussed. Mr. Wang’s assistance helped us to avoid being
referred to more voice mails and more departments, and instead pointed
us to the direct person to contact concerning the matters of bus stop
accessibility.
While speaking to Mr. Wang we learned that Translink is currently
creating a new design for the bus stops. We mentioned the need for a
more visible decal, preferably a reflective band around the pole at
eye-level from the seating area of a bus. He was very responsive to
this idea explaining that it was not something they had previously
considered because they had not received complaints concerning the
small decals in the right hand corner of the top of the bus stop sign.
We hope that he not only takes our suggestion into consideration but
utilities them when the new bus stop design is finalized later this
year.
Mr. Wang told us to talk to Mr. Evans at Coast Mountain Bus concerning
the accessibility of the bus stops. We contacted Mr. Evans who
explained that CMB will review the accessibility of bus stops as the
customers suggest them to CMB. It was suggested to Mr. Evans that the
customers of Translink are not aware that they are able to request this
service (another breakdown in communication). Mr. Evans suggested that
we create a list of bus stops to be reviewed. It was explained that
the financial responsibility of making a bus stop accessible is evenly
shared by the municipality and CMB.
CAN created a bus stop report to explain the current situation in
regards to the new shuttle buses. If you are interested in this one
page report please e-mail us at [email protected] for a copy. We reviewed
various bus stops that should be accessible, such as the stops in front
of the hospital, in front of the seniors’ centre, and the bus stops at
Maple Meadows which are not currently marked as accessible. While
doing the research to create this report it was discovered that CMB has
replaced many of the bus stops signs with new signs to indicate that
the stops now service shuttle buses. The new bus stop signs do not
have the accessible decal in the top right hand corner, even on bus
stops that were previously marked as accessible, and which remain
accessible. The decal seems to have been overlooked when the new signs
went up. This poses a problem as now passengers on the bus, and the
drivers, are unable to know for sure which stops are accessible or not.
We were not pleased to notice that the decals had been overlooked.
The report on the accessibility of shuttle bus stops was taken to a
meeting with Mike Murray, General Manager: Community Development, Parks
& Recreation Services, and Mayor Robson. Mayor Robson had asked CAN to
create a list of ways to make downtown more accessible. Since
accessibility was the point of the meeting the shuttle bus report was
discussed as well. Mr. Murray and Mr. Robson were not aware of the
situation and were interested to learn about it. They outlined ideas
and steps which would assure CMB that the municipality of Maple Ridge
wants to work with them to insure the most effective, and accessible,
service possible.
It was decided in this meeting that the report would be taken to the
Municipal Advisory Committee on Accessibility Issues (MACAI), and a
letter would be written to CMB by MACAI explaining the suggestions for
improvement. Within the letter we will ask CMB for a timeline of when
they believe they will be able to address the issues of accessible bus
stops being properly marked, of the possibility of creating a guide of
accessible stops fro the passengers and drivers so that there is not
such a reliance on the small decals, and creating accessible bus stops
where there currently are none.
CAN and MACAI will work together to ensure that CMB and Translink are
aware of the issues, and we will work with them to create better
service. Translink and CMB have been very receptive to our concerns
and we look forward to seeing them take action from our suggestions.
MACAI will be inviting both mayors to the next MACAI meeting to discuss
this issue as it affects both communities. As the next MACAI meeting
is not until after our March meeting there will not be an update until
April, unless you want to contact Heather directly (604-466-8771).
CAN will continue to listen to the suggestions of it’s members
regarding the transit service and work towards creating positive
change. We thank everyone who was involved in letting us know about
the situation of limited accessible stops for the shuttle buses.
During the meeting with Mr. Murray and the mayor we discussed the list
that CAN compiled to create a more accessible downtown core. This one
page document is available upon request. We went through the list and
we feel confident that Mr. Murray and Mr. Robson have taken the
concerns to heart. It was the mayor who requested the meeting and we
are encouraged by his obvious awareness of accessibility issues. The
compilation of this list includes issues for those with visual and
hearing impairments, mobility devices and strollers, and the comfort of
anyone using the downtown area. If you have any suggestions concerning
the accessibility of the Maple Ridge downtown area please contact us
and we will pass on your concerns.
The meeting went very well and in the end we were pleased with what
was said. While no promises were made we know that our concerns have
been heard, and this is a very important first step. We will keep
members up to date on what develops from this meeting.
In last month’s newsletter we said that CAN had finished creating the
accessibility list for reviewing restaurants listed on getmenus.ca.
This past month we reviewed our first restaurant – The Frogstone Grill.
The Frogstone Grill did very well. CAN is currently tweaking the
order of the accessibility checklist for easier reviews. We are also
creating a template for the written reviews which will appear on
getmenus.ca. By March we will have an easy-to-use accessibility
checklist to review restaurants for any member interested in
volunteering their time. It took twenty minutes to review the
Frogstone Grill and all that is required is a writing utensil, the
checklist, and a tape measure. Please contact us at [email protected] or
(604) 466-8771 if you are interested in helping CAN review the
accessibility of restaurants.
The meeting came to a close with a reminder that CAN now has a
printable membership form on the web site. If you have not yet sent in
your membership information and dues, please do so as soon as possible.
If you are unable to afford the $20 fee please let us know and we will
see what we can do. The $20 can be paid in installments.
We are hoping to encourage more members to participate with CAN and
this requires getting our name out there which will cost some money.
While membership dues are easy to put off we ask that you please pay if
you are able to do so. Twenty dollars goes a long way and we
appreciate the help and the sign of support that you believe in what
CAN is doing.
We welcome any feedback concerning CAN’s goals, projects, and/or this
newsletter. If you know of anyone interested in joining CAN,
volunteering, or receiving the newsletter please let them know about
our web site www.canbc.org, and pass on our contact information: e-mail
[email protected], phone number (604) 466-8771.
Thank you for you interest. Your ideas, suggestions, and input will
help to create positive change in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
Together we CAN!
We hope to see you at our next meeting on March 20th at the Fraser
Room in the Maple Ridge Library from 6:30 – 8:30 PM.
Remember together we CAN!