Friendly and Accessible, Is That Too Much To Ask?

This morning was my first time witnessing the huge production that is getting a wheelchair on the "accessible" GO Bus. After 10 minutes, the passenger was finally on the bus and felt it necessary to apologize to the other passengers. This upset me. She did not do anything wrong by wanting to take public transit, what did she have to apologize for. I took the opportunity to move up a few seats and speak with her regarding her experiences and barriers getting around the region. She was very eloquent on the subject, speaking with humour and thoughtfulness. I gave her my email address and look forward to having an ongoing dialogue with her about this and many other subjects. 

After the equally large production to get her off the bus, which made her miss her connecting train, I was left with an even stronger conviction that I must broaden the scope of my aims to make Durham Region bicycle friendly. It must become people friendly, community friendly and accessible on all levels. Urban planning for the convenience of vehicles at the cost of the mobility of people is short-sighted, exclusionary and wrong.