'People don't move': Strollers vs. wheelchairs on Winnipeg Transit

People living with disabilitiesare calling on the City of Winnipeg to make surethey can catch a seat on the bus hassle-free.

Advocates say overcrowded busesand parents with strollersareleaving wheelchair users onthe curb.

TheIndependentLiving ResourceCentresaidparents with strollers are takingupaccessibilityspots on busesona daily basis.

AllenMankewich,awheelchair user andconsultant with theIndependentLiving ResourceCentre, said it's an issue he deals withregularly.

"I hadan issue myself the other day.There was myself on the bus, one of mycolleagues [and an]oversized stroller withthreewheels on the bus,"Mankewichsaid.

"We basically had to play Tetris to get ourselves in and out of the bus."

LibbyZdriluk, 30,uses a power wheelchair to get around and saidshe'shad to waitin frigid temperatures during thewinter because strollers have taken the only space available for wheelchairs.

She wants Winnipeg Transit driversto make sure wheelchair users get on the bus hassle- andconfrontation-free.

Currentlypeople withdisabilitiesare beingleftto fend for themselves, she said.

"Ijust wish the drivers would automatically say'move over'or'get off the bus for a minute,'but they just don't seem to do that," she said.

The City of Winnipeg said it has decals on all of its low-floor buses to indicatedesignated areas forwheelchairsand strollers.

Spokeswoman Alissa Clark said drivers aretrained to help passengers with wheelchairs orstrollers and are supposedto ask riders without mobility issues to move if a seat is needed.

ButEva Beaudoin, 58,saidit's always a struggle finding room on the bus when there's a stroller. She said she finds itawkwardasking people to move so she can ride the bus.

"I have topracticallyask for a seat and then I get a dirty look,"Beaudoin said.

"People don't move."

But not everyone in the disabilitycommunityfeelswheelchairs should be givenpriorityover strollers.

Winnipegdisability advocateJimDerksensaidhe wantsthe City of Winnipegtoaddmoreflexibleseating on its buses,so both wheelchairs and strollers have more room.

"I believe in universal design and don't think our needs are any more important than parents with children," Derksen said.

John Callahan, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents Winnipeg bus drivers, said the union wants more buses put on the street to help deal with the issue.

He said drivers have raised concerns aboutstrollers takingaccessibilityspots on the bus andthe absence of a policyinstructing drivers what to do about it.

"It's something that's been around for a long time,but there's been no official stand on how to approach it," Callahan said.

"I think they need to look real seriously at it."

U.K.Supreme Court case

In the U.K., the battle between a wheelchair user and a bus firmhas gone to the country's Supreme Court.

Disability activistDougPaulleytook his case to a lowercourt in 2012 after being told he could not get on a bus when a mother with a strollerrefused to move.

The Supreme Court held a hearing into the case in June andPaulleysaid he hopes to receive a ruling from the court in the coming months.

Hesaid he is optimistic about the case and hopes it will end with better enforcement of the rights of people with disabilities.

"Public transport should be available for everybody,"Paulley, 38,told CBC News via Skype fromWetherby, England.