Family of DATS user urges communication policy change after bus was stuck in snow for hours

An Edmonton woman is calling for change after her disabled sister was stuck on a DATS bus for hours when the bus got stuck in the snow. Amanda Anderson reports.

The sister of an Edmonton woman who was stranded for hours on a stuck bus used by people with disabilities wants the city service to change its communication policies in times of delay.

Terenia Maidens said sister Mikhayla Winnyk and her support worker were stuck for several hours Tuesday on a Dedicated Accessible Transit Service (DATS) bus after it, and the tow truck sent to assist it, became lodged in a snow-bound northside cul-de-sac.

Maidens told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday that she called DATS an hour and a half after Winnyk, who uses a wheelchair, was due home and was told only that she was on her way.

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Two hours later, Maidens managed to get in touch with Winnyk’s support worker, who told her where they were located.

“If I knew that they were stuck and still waiting, and it would be an hour for a tow truck, we would have come a lot sooner to get her,” Maidens said, adding that “something needs to change” in DATS’s process in such situations.

“I get it, (the roads are) bad, but something else needs to happen to get them off the bus, to get the bus moving,” she said. “Some contact should have been made to the family after they waited for so many hours. Just to be sitting for three hours with nothing is ridiculous. It’s not humane.”

Maidens said DATS contacts families if one of its buses is involved in an accident and would like a similar policy for this kind of situation.

DATS manager Paul Schmold said the city “recognizes and understands the frustration from DATS clients and their families” but is “confident” weather-related issues will clear up soon.

“Our process in these circumstances is for our dispatchers to request on-road assistance for the operator, to tow the vehicle if necessary, and to transfer riders to another available vehicle as soon as possible,” he wrote in an emailed statement to CTV News Edmonton.

When buses are stuck or delayed, however, Schmold said information on the status of a trip can become limited, but a DATS operator would “never leave a DATS client alone on a bus.”

Zachary Weeks, a local disability advocate, agrees with Maidens, saying while there is “only so much” the city service can do when its roads are besieged by a lot of snow, it needs to better communicate at these times.

“In this case, when a family member is concerned about someone that isn’t showing up, it’s important that those lines of communication stay open and transparent,” Weeks told CTV News Edmonton. “There’s really no excuse with our modern technology.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson