The Consortium Led by Real-Time Engineering & Simulation, Inc. is working on a project for Transport Canada to better understand the long distance travel needs of people with mobility impairments in order to improve their accessibility to rail vehicles and the quality of the service provision in Canada.

The removal and prevention of barriers and making access easier to, and move around on board trains and stations is essential to provide accessible rail services and remove discrimination. With this survey, we are asking you to share your needs, views, comments and suggestions on current access to VIA Rail services and on various boarding devices. Your participation in this study is greatly appreciated through responding a survey. http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1834109/Long-Distance-Transportation-Needs-for-People-with-Limited-Mobility

This survey will take approximately 12 minutes to complete. Participation is voluntary and you may exit the survey at any time. Completing the survey indicates consent to participate in this study. All survey responses will remain confidential, stored on a password-protected computer, and participants will not be identified in any publications or reports. Due to the anonymous nature of the survey, once the data has been collected, participants can no longer withdraw from the study. The data may be kept for future related research purposes.

Please feel free to distribute widely among your network.

If you have any question or concerns regarding this survey or if you have any concerns regarding your rights or welfare as a participant in this research study please send an email to ComeOnBoard@rteng.pro.

Thank you for your participation!

DABC has been informed that this year, the City of Vancouver is offering accessibility aids and assistance to enable people with disabilities to vote.

Assistance includes:

• Sip and puff voting device
• Audio systems with headphones to read the ballot
• Magnification device to enlarge the ballot
• Wheelchair accessibility at all voting stations
• Curbside voting for persons unable to leave their vehicle to vote
• Assistance from election staff

Saturday, November 15th is the date of the municipal election. Advance voting begins November 4th.

DABC has received the following notice from the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation:

As of Monday, November 3, 2014, the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation will have a new virtual streamlined approach for Income or Disability Assistance applications for specialized populations. 

The Ministry is realigning service delivery to better meet the needs of people receiving income or disability assistance. We are looking for opportunities to deliver services in a more simplified, standardized and streamlined way.  We are moving towards more technology-enabled and virtually delivered services in order to provide people receiving income or disability assistance with more flexibility on how, when and where to access our services.

We are introducing a new service delivery model that will bring together all service delivery functions under a provincial model, rather than a predominantly regionally based model. We anticipate consistent and standardized client experience across the province.

Information on the process for each specialized intake application will be shared with all liaisons and contacts.

Specialized Intakes will include:

–          Hospital Applications
–          Corrections Applications (Provincial and Federal)
–          Youth In Transition and Underage Persons With Disabilities Applications
–          Licensed and Registered Supportive Recovery Facilities/Homes

Further information is available by calling the ministry’s toll free number 1-866-866-0800 and following the prompts to speak with a Specialized Intake representative as outlined below:

• Select Option 2: …all general inquiries, enter your 10 digit phone number, then press option 3, and then press option 5.

Phone service is available Monday – Friday between 9:00am – 4:00pm Pacific Standard Time (PST). Please note that our peak call volume generally occurs between 9:00am – 9:30am and 1:00pm – 2:00pm each day.

Each Specialized Intake stakeholder group (as listed above) will receive further details in the near future specific to your respective client group.

We anticipate no disruption in service and thank you for your patience during this time of transition.