tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35743239.post5648575347809928556..comments2024-03-19T07:36:33.915-04:00Comments on Of Battered Aspect: Hip Hip ...Dave Hingsburgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11918601687946534172noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35743239.post-2656478511534088042014-04-07T11:48:50.752-04:002014-04-07T11:48:50.752-04:00Yes you should expect but I have learnt in life a ...Yes you should expect but I have learnt in life a few compliments make people want to do it even more so there is method in the manners too. Jayne walesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35743239.post-52646878498095431082014-04-07T09:27:29.398-04:002014-04-07T09:27:29.398-04:00I'm glad they had a positive answer for you! I...I'm glad they had a positive answer for you! I wonder if they would have made an exception for visitors who used wheelchairs.<br /><br />I know it's scary, but I'd really suggest testing the buses eventually. You might be able to call and find out what dimensions will fit in the wheelchair spots. If you can fit in the spots, you'll be able to get your chair on/off the bus. You might also be able to ask the transit company if it would be possible for you to set-up the chance to test getting on/off so you could get practice before having to do so with other people around. <br /><br />I only say this because I went through a similar thing about 5 1/2 years ago in NYC. I didn't ever have time to try to set-up Paratransit when I moved because I immediately started working. I'm still not sure that I would have qualified in NYC, anyway, because they have stricter rules than most places. I'd heard horror stories about the NYC buses and the same problems you have heard about in Toronto. Most wheelchair users I knew just completely avoided them (wheelchair users in NYC who can drive actually do drive everywhere). I'd spend the previous summer living in NYC and had figured out how to always use the subways to where I needed to go (that summer I was by one of the subway stations that was almost completely accessible). For the first several months of my job, as a result, I used the subway. It was easy near my apartment, but required about 10 blocks of wheeling from the closest accessible subway station to where I worked. I was a manual wheelchair user at the time so it meant that by the end of the day, I was wheeling 1.5-2 miles (I also had to go to my main client's office most days, although that was only about 2 blocks from mine). There was a bus stop between my flat and the subway station and I had figured out what bus I needed to take to get to work so one day I said the heck with it. As it turned out, I had very few problems with the buses. The hardest part was getting drivers to use the seatbelt . Most people don't insist so they get used to not doing it and don't remember how (it's not easily apparent, but I learned how so that I could walk a driver through. When I started using a powerchair some didn't want to even strap the chair down, but didn't grumble when I asked. I took buses in NYC last month for the first time in years (I moved out of NYC in 2010) and didn't even have to ask. If there were ever comments from other riders, I didn't notice them. I did notice them get made by one woman about a guy who came on smelling strongly of alcohol (I said something because whatever she said offended me, but it wasn't about his wheelchair). The most annoying part about using the buses was that they had to deal with NYC traffic. They actually ran pretty much according to schedule, but it did take longer to get places by bus than subway. I have no idea what buses are like in Toronto, but you may end up being pleasantly surprised. I certainly was in NYC.Penelopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06266694020145632041noreply@blogger.com