Calgary Transit Welcoming Fully Accessible CTrain CarsCalgary Transit’s first two S200 CTrain cars have arrived!

The Mask – a sleek design chosen by Calgarians in an online contest – is the first of its kind in North America. The new cars cost $3.2 million each and are fully accessible. A sloping floor near the entry makes it easier for wheelchair access, the cars are roomier, and there are Braille and visible displays for customers with disabilities.

The new cars feature heated floors, air conditioning, better lighting, improved seating and onboard digital displays to keep passengers up to

date on route information and news.

The custom features were designed with our customers in mind:

• Vehicle front doors have been moved back to improve passenger flow

• Visible door lighting: green lights when opening and red when closing.

• Fully accessible entryway with sloped floors – no more ramps. ALL doors are wheelchair accessible.

• New Passenger Interface Unit improves passenger communication with the driver.

The rest of the 63 new Mask cars from Siemens Canada will be arriving intermittently as they come off the assembly line until they are all here by early 2017. The first four-car Mask train will be introduced later this spring as more of the new cars arrive. Four-car trains can carry up to 800 passengers.

The cars were funded by the Government of Alberta.

Calgary Transit is committed to improving the customer experience. The new Mask cars are helping to fulfill Calgary Transit’s new Customer Commitment: To provide safe, reliable, and easy-to-use transit.

calgarytransit.com/access | 403.537.7777 1

AccessAbility Transportation Services for People with Disabilities – Newsletter Spring 2016

Calgary Transit Access Cancellation Policy

Calgary Transit Access has a goal of safely transporting our customers, while ensuring service is on time. Our drivers try to be prompt and with the assistance of our customers we can meet this goal. Calgary Transit Access has two cancellation policies that affect our customers:

1) Late Cancellations, No Shows, Cancel at the Door

Cancelling your trips ahead of time greatly reduces stress and allows us to provide better service to customers and use resources efficiently to keep trips on time.

As soon as you are aware you will not be needing a trip, please call Calgary Transit Access and cancel – at least two hours in advance, to avoid penalties.

Calgary Transit Access understands that there will be circumstances that come up, such as a last-minute family emergency or you are not feeling well. This is okay. Just call Customer Service and explain your circumstances; we are more than willing to work with you.

Late cancellations, customers who no-show and those who cancel once the vehicle arrives (known as Cancelling at the Door) impact the service a great deal.

If a late cancellation occurs it impacts service for other customers and can make the difference between a vehicle being on-time or being late.

If a customer has three or more late cancellations, we will send out a warning letter reminding our customers that cancelling at least two hours in advance will greatly assist the service to all our customers.

If customers continue to have more and more late cancellations, customers are issued suspension letters, ranging anywhere from two days all the way up to 14 days, depending on the number of late cancellations a customer has had. If a customer is cancelling a majority of their trips, Calgary Transit Access will complete a review to see if a customer still needs the service.

2) Subscription Cancellations

Regular subscription trips are in place for customers who are going to the same place, at the same time every week. By having these trips in place Calgary Transit Access is reserving a spot on a vehicle for you. Did you know you can put your regular subscription trips on hold for up to 30 days?

Putting your trips on hold prevents any cancellations from occurring on your subscription trips, and ensures you will not lose your trips.

If a customer cancels their regular trips (even if they are an advance cancellation) 40% of the time, or more, they may be subject to receiving a warning.

If, for a second month in a row, you continue to cancel 40% or more of your trips Calgary Transit Access will remove this regular subscription trip from your file.

Having your subscription cancelled by Calgary Transit Access does not mean you have lost your service. It only means you will have to call in for every trip you require.

After six weeks, the customer can request a subscription again provided there is a commitment to take those trips.

If you are going away on a holiday, in the hospital, or you know you will be out of town – please call Calgary Transit Access to either put these trips on hold for up to 30 days, or ask to have these trips removed and re-request them when you need the trip again. Please call Customer Service at 403-537-7777, then press 4 if you have any questions about our cancellation policies.

calgarytransit.com/access | 403-262-10002

Ella Anderson Accessibility Award

Calgary Transit Access is very pleased to announce that Jim Brown was the winner of the Ella Anderson Accessibility award.

This award is presented by the Advisory Committee on Accessibility and celebrates an individual who emphasizes making public transportation more inclusive in our community.

Jim received the award from Mayor

Naheed Nenshi, who shared these

words while presenting the award:

Jim has been on the HandiBus Board since 1992 and has held the position of Chair multiple times.

He is very passionate about giving back to the community in general; he is involved with The Magic of Christmas, Heritage Park and Meals on Wheels. He has also sat on the Calgary Transit Access Advisory Committee since its inception in 2001.

Jim played a crucial role which led to creation of Access Calgary in 2001 and strategically strengthened the delivery of services for people with disabilities. In 2014, when HandiBus concluded that it was in their best interest to only do fundraising, Jim again assisted with the transition of HandiBus drivers and other staff to Calgary Transit Access.

While Jim not only makes sure he is making the community better by providing leadership in his Board roles, he cares deeply for the employees who are working at these organizations.

Congratulations Jim on this well-deserved award!

2015 Calgary Transit Access StatisticsTrips 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

Total shared-ride trips provided 1,080,145 1,077,565 1,036,872 1,022,273 985,747

Preschool trips through Calgary HandiBus

32,121 50,568 46,443 48,415

Access Calgary Extra trips 32,324 37,050 40,329 49,760 56,371

Total number of Trips Provided 1,112,469 1,146,736 1,127,769 1,118,476 1,090,533

Unaccommodated trips 24 63 452 1,521 3,871

Phone calls

Phone calls – Operations 496,342 535,455 511,578 507,221 509,806

Phone calls – Eligibility Services 13,179 11,768 12,558 14,152 14,234

Phone calls – Acrobat (automated telephone system)

635,571 620,125 592,525 563,492 526,351

Eligibility applications

Interviews 2,851 2,700 2,690 2,771 2,034

Group home applications, ADPs, etc. 4,954 4,946 4,703 4,853 3,853

Appeals 61 55 42 30 17

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Vulnerable Person Self-Registry with Calgary Police Services

The Calgary Police Service has created a database where Calgarians can register if they have a disability and require special attention in the event of an emergency. Registration is voluntary and free of charge.

If you have a physical or cognitive disability or are the caregiver for someone with a disability, the Calgary Police Service would like to have your information to better serve you. Your privacy will be protected and the information you provide will only be used by first responders in the event of a dangerous situation.

It is a self-registry, so you or your caregiver will need to enter your

information in the system. Emails will be sent when this information needs to be updated.

To register online go to www.calgarypolice.ca (keyword: self-registry)

You will be asked to provide your name, date of birth, physical description, contact information, photo, preferred methods of approach/communication and description of any life-threatening medical conditions.

For questions about this registry, please email vulnerablepersons@calgarypolice.ca or contact 311.

Calgary Transit Customer Commitment & On Time Performance Through our customer interactions whether on the phone, at open houses or on surveys we conduct, we ask what is important about the service? One answer shared by all customers is the timeliness of the service. Over the past few years, Calgary Transit Access has worked to sustain and improve service. One initiative towards that goal was getting all stakeholders – our customers, agencies that support people with disabilities, drivers, service providers and internal staff –and have in-depth discussions on how to continue improving on-time performance.

Through this dialogue key measures were identified that we can all take to help ensure customers receive timely service. Calgary Transit Access measures On-Time performance by calculating how many of your trips were provided on time. On time means picked up and dropped off inside the 20-minute window.

For the month of January 2016, Calgary Transit Access provided 94,110 trips of which 90.57% of pick-ups and 88.04% of drop-offs were performed on time.

Operations staff places a strong emphasis on identifying and resolving late trips in advance to

minimize the risk of you running late. One of the ways that customers can really help is to be prepared to board the vehicle at the start of your 20-minute window.

This means being ready in your boots, coat and gloves at the lobby of your apartment building or first door of your residence. The driver will assist from your first exterior door to the vehicle.

While we cannot control delays due to the weather, traffic, accidents or detours, it really goes a long way when customers are ready to go when the vehicle arrives.

calgarytransit.com/access | 403.537.77774

Holiday Hours: Calgary Transit Access Booking line, Customer Service and Eligibility will be closed on:

Victoria DayMay 23

Canada DayJuly 1

Heritage DayAug. 1

Labour DaySept. 5

ThanksgivingOct. 10

If you require a trip the day after a statutory holiday, you must request your trip the day before the holiday or as early as four days in advance of the day of travel. Please note: If the holiday falls on a Saturday, subscription trips will be canceled on both the holiday and the Friday before.

If the holiday falls on a Sunday, subscription trips will be canceled on both the holiday and the Monday after.

Agency Meeting – May 10 , 2016The next Access Calgary Agency meeting will be held Tuesday, May 10 from from 1-4pm. We have extended the length of the meeting this year in order to provide a tour of our new Westbrook location for Agency staff. The meeting will be held at 1417 33 Street SW. The purpose of the meeting is to share information between Calgary Transit Access and agency staff/representatives on initiatives, programs, and changes that affect transportation for people with disabilities.If you work for an agency and wish to attend, please RSVP prior to May 9 by calling 403-537-7770, press #1.

Fresh New LookBy now, you’ve likely seen our fresh new look for Calgary Transit Access. Soon, you’ll be seeing consistent vehicle decals and signage with our partners (Checker Cabs, Care Calgary, and Southland Transportation). It’s all part of our refreshed branding to help streamline our service and share a common look so customers can easily identify our vehicles and drivers.

Thanks to our service providers for coming on-board with our new look and for the good work being done each day.

The look and name Calgary Transit Access is new, but customers can trust that we will continue delivering the same safe, responsive and courteous public transportation service they rely on.

calgarytransit.com/access | 403.537.7777 5

Summer Camp Calgary Transit, Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District are joining together to provide the Get on Board Travel Training Summer Camp.

At the camp, participants can expect to learn: how to use Calgary Transit services, the cost to ride Calgary Transit, how long a transfer is valid for, when to use the Help intercom, why you need to stand behind the yellow line and where their lost items on Calgary Transit end up.

Participants are youth (age 14 – 18) with a disability who would like to learn how to use Calgary Transit. Participants need to fill in an

application form that will be available from the Access Calgary website or their school by the end of May.

Camp takes place at City Hall School in the municipal building in three sessions that run consecutively from July 18 - 21 or July 25 - 28, and August 1 – 4. Sessions are a half-day long (morning or afternoon). The fee for camp is $25 which is refunded if the participant attends the whole session.

For more information or if you have questions, please call the Travel Trainer at 403-537-7862.

Deerfoot Mall is Going Through a Big Renovation We have chosen two locations at Deerfoot Mall which will provide access to the stores that are to remain open. They are Deerfoot Mall North at Goodlife Fitness and Deerfoot Mall South at the Winners store. The Walmart that is currently located at Deerfoot Mall will keep its Pick Up and Drop Off location as well. The stores that already have outside access are to remain open during construction.

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calgarytransit.com/access | 403-262-10006

Driver Recognition AwardsThe Calgary Transit Access Advisory Committee selected the following drivers for the Driver Recognition award. Two drivers are selected randomly from commendations sent in by you. Please keep sending in your commendations for exceptional drivers to Calgary Transit Access Customer Service at 403-537-7777 and press option #4.

Walter Burton – Southland October 2015

Gerry Patton – Calgary Transit Access October, 2015

Whahid Ahmadi – Checker August 2015

Yves Lauzon – Southland December 2015

Paul Uvbiama – Care Calgary September 2015

Miloud Choual – Care Calgary November 2015

Alan Selk – Calgary Transit Access November 2015

Danny Wong – Checker September 2015

Alex Wolchov – Southland December 2015

Calgary Transit Access Advisory Committee Members Calgary Transit Access is accepting applications from customers interested in participating on the Calgary Transit Access Advisory Committee. The committee’s mandate is to provide Calgary Transit with input and advice on transportation services for people with disabilities.

The committee reports to the director of Calgary Transit. There will be a total of 10 committee members made up of Calgary Transit Access service users, representatives from various agencies, interested parties and Calgary Transit staff. Members will serve a one or two-year term.

Meetings take place on the second Wednesday of every month from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Westbrook Calgary Transit Administration building (1417 – 33 St. SW). People interested in becoming a member of this committee are asked to respond in writing indicating their interest and background information that would assist in the selection of candidates.

Responses must be sent to: Calgary Transit Access Attn: Manager of Calgary Transit Access P.O Box 2100, Station M, #170WB Calgary, AB T2P 2M5.

Applications must be submitted by July 15.

Adnan Al-khazaly – Checker August, 2015

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2016-0560

THIS NEWSLETTER IS AVAILABLE ONLINE:This newsletter is available on the Calgary Transit website. Go to: calgarytransit.com and click on Accessible Transit, then click on more about Calgary Transit Access, and click on Resources. If you would like to receive an electronic copy of this newsletter, please call 403-537-7770.

Calgary Transit Access Operations 403-537-7777

From the voice menu, make your choice from the following:

#1 Acrobat (24 hours daily) – Automated telephone system to confirm or cancel your trips.

#2 Advance bookings (daily 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) – Request a trip or trip change.

#3 Same-day booking inquiries (daily 6 a.m. – midnight) – Includes stand-by requests, late bus inquiries and same-day cancellations.

#4 Customer service (Mon. – Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) – Feedback, service concerns, compliments or general information. Email: AccessCalgaryInfo@calgary.ca

#5 Eligibility services (Mon. – Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) – Apply for or renew registration or change personal information.

#6 Holiday hours

Calgary Transit Access Employee RecognitionsOur customers have noticed the great work our staff does. Calgary Transit Access is please to take this opportunity to recognize our employees who received customer commendations. They are:

• Amandeep – 1• Blanca – 3• Carol P – 2• Devon Y – 5• Jodi S – 1• Judy G - 4• Karn D – 1• Shabina D – 2• Steph M – 1

• Terri – 4

• Carolyn S – 2• Dawn Sk. – 1• Elizabeth F – 4• Sheila W – 2• Margaret M – 1• Yasmin D - 1• Ben T – 2• Dana R – 1• Harbir – 1

• Jennifer C – 2

• Scott T – 2• Bruce S – 4• John K. – 2• Lorne L – 1• Wendy M – 1• Phil W – 1• Brian C – 1• Shawne M – 3

• Marie T – 1

Contact numbers

For more information visit calgarytransit.com and click on Accessible Transit, then click on more about Calgary Transit Access.

Congratulations to all of you!

Our customers’ satisfaction is important to us. Thank you for taking the time to let us know you appreciate the service. If you’d like to submit a commendation for one of our employees, or if you have a concern about our service, contact Customer Service at 403-537-7777 and press option 4.

calgarytransit.com/access | 403.537.77778