The Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee met on July 10, 2003, at 8:50 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton.

Councillor I. Sinclair presided.

1. DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

RECOMMENDATION IMPSC-2-2003:

That the agenda for the July 10, 2003, Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee meeting be approved.

3. DELEGATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

4. REPORTS

a. Study on Transportation for Persons with Disabilities (Oral)
Presentation by Tom AppaRao, Director of Transportation Planning and Bill O'Brien, Vice President, Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited

Received

Tom AppaRao, Director of Transportation Planning, advised the Subcommittee that planning for transportation for persons with disabilities was an important strategic issue for the Region. He noted that the need for these services will grow exponentially as the population ages and the Region's population increases. He also noted new provincial legislation in the form of the Ontarians With Disabilities Act (ODA) and the requirements for service provision contained therein.

Tom AppaRao advised that the study on transportation for persons with disabilities is one of the studies that is being undertaken by the Planning Department as part of the Regional Official Plan Strategic Update (ROPSU). He advised that a Long Range Transportation Planning Workshop was held on June 26, 2003 in reference to Transportation Demand Management and Goods Movement. Tom noted further that a Transportation Demand Management Stakeholders Workshop was being held the morning of July 11, 2003, hosted by Nortel.

Bill O'Brien, Vice-President, Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited, presented an update on the study of transportation for persons with disabilities to the Members of the Subcommittee for information. He stated that there were two objectives to the study. Namely to determine the transportation needs for persons with disabilities and to identify the role of publicly funded services in meeting those needs.

Bill O'Brien noted the challenges associated with the provision of specialized transit service, including mention of the high rate of growth in service demand and the download of the provision of that service to the local municipalities from the province. He mentioned that the Region's ongoing study is approximately 40% complete and discussed some preliminary findings. In this regard, he noted that the Region of Peel had a population of roughly one million persons of which approximately 10% or 100,000 people have a disability. Of those, approximately 25,000 to 50,000 would be unable to make use of conventional transit with 8,000 to 12,000 requiring the use of mobility aids.

Councillor Fennell arrived at 9:00 a.m.

Bill O'Brien advised that a growth analysis has been conducted as part of the study. He noted that there is a significantly higher growth in the disabled portion of the population when compared to the growth rate of the population at large. Councillor Sinclair requested clarification on the graphic depicting growth, suggesting that it may be misleading if interpreted incorrectly. In response, Bill O'Brien reiterated that there are presently approximately 100,000 persons with disabilities in Peel and noted that in the year 2021 that number was expected to reach approximately 180,000. Reasons for the increase include aging of the "baby boomer" population, improvement in health care and increased opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Bill O'Brien outlined the current services available to persons with disabilities in the Region and provided a comparison between Paratransit service in Peel Region and services available in Ottawa, Calgary and Hamilton. He outlined the next steps to be undertaken in the study process and noted that they were looking at alternatives to address the needs and develop low cost options for service delivery. He stated that the team would be looking at, among other things, the Hamilton "family of services" model in this regard. He stated that the study was expected to be concluded in the next couple of months.

Councillor Saito questioned whether the study team had approached any of the local Accessory Advisory Committees (AAC) as she could not recall the issue being listed on any of the Mississauga Committee agendas. Bill O'Brien responded that he believed local committees had been consulted.

Councillor Saito commented that the other committee of which she is a member has had extensive discussions on transportation services for the disabled. She noted that drawbacks have been identified with the low floor busses including operational/scheduling concerns for transit providers and safety concerns with the busses themselves when considering the mechanism of securing mobility devices. She suggested that, at least until improvements in this mode of travel have been achieved, other alternatives should be examined.

Councillor Sinclair commented on the disparity in cost for the Hamilton model comparison and requested more detail on how they have achieved such an apparent cost effective system in comparison to the other municipalities identified. Further, Chairman Kolb wanted to ensure that the same measures were being used for comparison.

Councillor Sinclair noted that he has heard from Transhelp about individuals who are registered for their service but unable to get bookings. He also noted that the definition of who qualified for service may have to be re-examined. He questioned what form of disabilities the study was addressing and suggested that a synopsis or executive summary of this study be brought to the next AAC Committee meeting.

Bill O'Brien noted that there is an onus on municipalities in the new ODA to broaden the definition of who is considered disabled and the Region will have to address transportation needs for this broader group of individuals in the eligibility criteria.


b. Requirements of the Regional Official Plan for a Cost of Development Model

Received

5. COMMUNICATIONS

6. IN CAMERA MATTERS

7. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting date of the Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee is scheduled for Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 8:00 a.m., Council Chambers, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton.

Please forward regrets to Elizabeth Corazzola, Legislative Co-ordinator, 905-791-7800, extension 4502.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

9. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 a.m.