Doggydaze

It's day 6 of Accessibility Awareness Week! Today I'd like to woof about accessible transportation! Getting places with a disability can be difficult. Although there is accessible public transit, it's often less than ideal. But we recently had the opportunity to take part in the testing of a new light rail train car that our city will be using in the future! The difference was tremendous. On the trains currently in our city wheelchair users are supposed to park facing the doors they will use to exit. That means at every stop people are trying to get past us to get on or off. It's awkward and my paws can easily get stepped on. The new prototype is lower so it's easier to get on and there's actually a spot for a wheelchair with room for a service dog or companion! Buttons are in accessible places and I even figured out how to open the door on the first try! The help button has audio and visual messages and the signs are easy to see! We're super fortunate that we raised enough funds to buy an adapted vehicle. We need that as much of our life involves traveling outside of the city, but often finding parking where we can drop a ramp is really hard to find. We'll be able to take this train and feel much safer and comfortable which can make getting places in the city! What was really important was that many people were invited to test this train car. Too often only one or two people with disabilities are asked for feedback and what might work for one person might be really difficult for another. I'm very happy our city is working towards making transit more accessible! youtu.be/1jLxjiGaDuM