Presto card reader location at subway stations discriminatory against disabled
Posted November 3, 2014 4:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The TTC’s pilot project for the Presto card seems to have discriminated against people with disabilities.
Readers for the electronic fare card are located at some subway station turnstiles but currently TTC tokens are the only option at accessibility gates.
People in wheelchairs or who use scooters can’t easily use turnstiles and those who have other mobility issues say it is difficult to get around the way the Presto system is currently set up.
Valerie Murray, a woman who works in Toronto and travels through Union Station daily, uses a cane and says she doesn’t understand why the card reading machines aren’t at the accessibility gates.
“It requires me to balance on my toes, put my cane up in the air and slither through,” she said.
The machines were installed five years ago at 14 TTC stations as part of a pilot project.
MetroLinx said no one at the TTC has raised this issue in five years but that a temporary solution will be found.
It added that the full Presto system will be rolled out over the next two years — including retrofitting or replacing turnstiles and other equipment to make sure everything is fully accessible.
