People who use Edmonton’s Disabled Adult Transit Service (DATS) are looking for improvements to the program.
Student and accessibility advocate Bailey Coty is a regular passenger.
“It’s better,” Coty told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s not great yet.”
Coty spoke to city council Monday, her fourth time sharing her experience using DATS.
Last fall, council approved a $1.3 million funding boost for the program.
DATS has a three-year plan for new features, including allowing users to book a trip with a specific drop-off time and lowering the maximum ride time for shorter trips.
“We’re modernizing our service, it’s a journey,” said Paul Schmold, manager of client services for DATS. “It’s not gonna happen overnight, but it’s something that we’re excited about.”
Only about half of the vehicles DATS uses are city-owned buses with lifts. The other vehicles are provided by contractors, and more taxis are being paid to take on the additional trips and work to decrease wait times.
“It needs to be equitable to somebody taking regular transit,” Coty said.
She said an app with GPS tracking, similar to what ride sharing services have, would be a big improvement.
“It should be there, it’s 2019. We need to stop living in the Stone Age.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson.
