An online booking system cannot come fast enough for some frustrated Para Transpo riders still dealing with long wait times.
Ruth Hurst is in a wheelchair and relies on Para Transpo to attend appointments, and other events. Hurst said it has become the norm for her to wait 45 minutes to one hour to reach someone in the call centre to schedule a ride.
“Then you wait all that time to hear, ‘sorry, that time is taken,’” she said.
This year the Para Transpo was extended to users with a wider range of disabilities, for a total of more than 16-thousand users. Officials with OC Transpo said to accommodate all riders, 20 staff will be added to the Customer Service Centre, according to Pat Scrimgeour, the city's dir. of transit customer systems and planning.
Hurst said the new workers might help with this one issue – but believes there are several others. A few weeks ago she alleges she was left stranded at an appointment for several hours.
“We had a two o’clock pickup, and it was pouring rain that day, and Para didn’t show up,” Hurst said.
Hurst and other users have expressed the need for additional drivers, and trips to handle the new amount of users.
Scrimgeour said that has already taken place – through the hiring of contracted taxis.
CTV phoned the Para Transpo booking line with Hurst on Wednesday afternoon and waited 30 minutes for an answer. Scrimgeour said that wait time is higher than normal, and that the new average is 10 to 15 minutes.
Several Para Transpo users have written to CTV News expressing their desire for an online booking system – Hurst included.
Scrimgeour said an online system is still being reviewed, but was not likely to happen because not all users want it.
“Some users prefer a phone and some users prefer the computer,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to get to a point where if we’re allowing people to book through either, that all the trips are being taken by the people who have computers and smartphones.”
Scrimgeour said the discussions surrounding the needs of Para Transpo users are open and ongoing.