Waterdown resident left with Wicked disappointment over DARTS service

Thursday was supposed to be a night of magic for Waterdown’s Tiff Garvey, who planned to watch the new, highly-anticipated Wicked movie with friends. Instead she was faced with a familiar frustration. 

Despite putting in a request with DARTS, Hamilton’s accessible transportation system, seven days before the movie, the 34-year-old was left without a way to get to the theatre. 

“I looked forward to seeing this movie for a month,” Garvey said, adding that a friend had pre-purchased her ticket. 

Garvey, who uses a wheelchair, says the DARTS service is essential to her being able to live independently. Garvey pays for a subscription to the service, which she says is the only option for Hamilton residents with disabilities. 

Getting a ride with DARTS is first-come, first-serve, and trips must be booked a week in advance. But even when riders do everything right, Garvey said, it’s common to not end up with a space on a DARTS bus.

For her trip to the movie theatre, Garvey was told by DARTS that her request was during rush hour, which would make the trip more difficult to book. Garvey said she was willing to be dropped off at the theatre a full four hours before showtime — she said she did not hear back from DARTS after that. 

“I have to plan around their schedule, and I have to plan around my own schedule, just to get turned down. How is that fair?”

Without DARTS, Garvey says she doesn’t have many options for getting around town. 

To get to the movie theatre in Ancaster without DARTS, Garvey would have to take three different Hamilton Street Rail buses, would have to travel to downtown Hamilton, then to Hamilton Mountain, then finally to the theatre in Ancaster. 

The trip would take around two hours one-way, if Garvey could make all of her transfers smoothly. She said making the trip on the bus is anxiety-inducing, overwhelming and scary. 

“I wouldn't know how to do that by myself,” she said. 

DARTS was unable to respond before FlamboroughToday's deadline. 

Garvey’s friend, Anthony Frisina, is a fellow wheelchair user and advocate for Hamilton residents with disabilities. 

He said DARTS prioritizes who gets a ride based on where they are going, and said that is a problem. 

“We shouldn't have to disclose where we're going, why we're doing what we're doing,” he said. 

According to Stats Canada, 27.7 per cent of Hamilton residents have a disability, which Frisina noted is above the provincial average. He said DARTS isn't a reliable transportation system for adults with disabilities, citing scheduling issues, late pick-ups, inefficient drop-offs and limited service hours as some of the issues. 

Both Garvey and Frisina noted that it shouldn't matter where people using DARTS are going — they should be able to rely on their paid subscription to get them where they are going, and give them freedom and mobility.

“We need that kind of service to support people with disabilities 24/7,” he said.