A man who describes himself as a ‘Winnipeg Centre resident in a wheelchair’ is raising concerns about the city’s Transit Plus service after hearing that Winnipeggers who need accessible transportation are having difficulty getting to and from the polls.
“I got a message this morning from a guy who runs an accessible taxi company and he was saying he’s getting tons of requests for polling stations today,” Allen Mankewich told 680 CJOB.
“People were trying to book rides with Transit Plus and they were either getting one-way trips or not getting scheduled either way so they’re having to resort to calling taxis to get to the polling stations.”
Mankewich called the issues a form of disenfranchisement.
“If you’re putting up barriers to people getting to the polling station, this is a form of disenfranchisement.
“The city claims they’ve been able to accommodate all rides, but that’s not what I’m hearing.”
In an email to 680 CJOB, Winnipeg Transit said it has accommodated all requested trips to and from voting locations.
Mankewich said he’d like to see elections prioritized for Transit Plus users to avoid any problems or confusion.
“Elections don’t tend to happen very frequently and we know well in advance of when they’re happening,” he said.
“It begs the question: where does that fall in terms of the prioritization system?”
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