An Overview of Transportation for the Mobility Disadvantaged in Canada

This paper describes how a number of paratransit services for the elderly and handicapped have been established in urban centers in Canada. The availability of these services is however by no means general, and what services are offered, are not uniformly available throughout the country. Emphasis has been on paratransit rather than on adapting public transportation for local travel by the handicapped. As of today, no city or region in Canada has taken total responsibility for the provision of regular, permanent public transportation services for the transportation of the handicapped. For long distance travel, relatively little has been achieved in adapting vehicles for use by the handicapped, while at the same time progress has been made in making terminal facilities more accessible.