Moscoe Would Throw Out Baby With Bath Water

Drivers with disabled parking permits do not have to pay at parking meters. Is this fair?

Yes 648 35%
No 1197 64%

The results of this poll doesn't really surprise me because it is anonomous....I think the results would be different if if it was done face to face. It is just another example of the fact that problems do not get solved because many people don't Walk The Talk and I think this is evident from Moscoe's latest 15 minute sound byte. According to Moscoes figures we have approximately 4000 disabled drivers taking advantage of free parking each day. Howard you might want to look at how much more revenue you can get by licencing electric wheelchairs/scooters, additional fare for people using ttc with strollers, etc.

Plan will penalize genuine disabled
February 14, 2007

Scrap disabled parking system: Moscoe

Feb. 13.

Councillor Howard Moscoe has asked the province to scrap the present disabled parking-permit system so that it can be replaced with one that is "free of abuse." The article also states that Moscoe believes that disabled drivers should be required to pay for on-street metered parking and at pay-and-display meters in areas equipped with this system.

As a legitimate holder of a disabled parking permit, I understand the problems faced by disabled drivers and believe that both of Moscoe's ideas would negatively affect the disabled.

Certainly there is abuse of the current disabled parking-permit system, but scrapping the present system, even for a short period of time, will be harmful to those legitimately using disabled parking permits. Using parking meters and pay-and-display ticket machines is problematic for disabled drivers. Consider the problems faced by drivers who use wheelchairs and drive automobiles equipped with hand controls.

Just getting in and out of their vehicles is very taxing. Wheeling oneself to one of the pay-and-display machines (if the meter is accessible from wheelchair height and/or accessible in winter due to accumulated ice and/or snow), paying to obtain a ticket, and then wheeling back to the car and hoisting oneself up to place the ticket on the dashboard would be exhausting, to say the least, and in some cases impossible.

Paying at a parking meter may be less difficult but still may be hard for the disabled person. For a disabled person using canes or a walker, such tasks may be a bit easier, but the extra walking involved can be extremely fatiguing, making routine errands very difficult.

I hope Moscoe and other Toronto city officials seriously consider these problems before making any decisions regarding the disabled parking system.

Joanne R. Fisher, Thornhill