Developmentally Challenged have been denied access to services

The premise that this person is not disabled and therefore doesn't qualify is beyond ridiculous. How are you not embarrassed and ashamed for this decision. It makes you look stupid!

My son is, and always will be developmentally challenged. With this, yes he may be able to walk, but by no means will he ever be able to walk for long periods of time due to his extremely low muscle tone. A 5 minute walk to him is equivalent to us walking up a steep hill with no rest or stopping, for an hour. Let's see you try that and see how mobile you are after that. On top of his low tolerance mobility, his thought processing is very slow, and will always be this way; along with visual issues both being legally blind and can not Track anything that is horizontally mobile. Which means he will likely never read independently. With all this said, no he may not be physically disabled, but all of his developmental disabilities leave him equally disabled as one with physical disabilities. Therefore leaving him in major danger both physically and safety/health wise. He will always require systems like handy transit in his future, to be able to thrive successfully outside of his own dwelling. To hear of this news greatly saddens me and sets worry and fear Into me, for not only my sons future, safety, well being and a chance at having as normal a life he so deserves, but all of his other developmentally and mentally disabled "family". This new regulation of yours, Sudbury, need to change now!!

This is quite ubserd if my son needed a ride and your gunna tell me no because he can walk you should give your head a shake.

We can't allow ourselves to become "that" kind of community.

This is horrible what they are trying to do, how can one organization decide whether a person has the right kind of disability to take the handi-transit. I feel like these people with physical or mental disabilities need to be heard and for the ones who can not use there words we as citizens need to fight for them!

This is absolutely ridiculous

Having 2 mentally disabled sisters, I find this outrageous. They can't speak for themselves so this is just cruel. How can they defend themselves from this outrageous bylaw.

It's discrimination. Not rational or ethical.

SHAMEFUL--Communities need to be inclusive, that means for ALL People. People should be prepared to break down the barriers that people face when they are not able to access ALL the services that are to be available for ALL the people. We need to all work together to help one another not create systems that don't achieve Inclusion!!!

Sudbury Handi-transit it starting to get out of control by starting to denie certain disabled people their rights to access Handi-transit.I can see in the very near future that Handi-Transit is going to be cutting back on their services just so they can justify their lack of support for the disabled people who need regular access to Handi-transit. Just because they don't have a pronounced physicall disability does not mean that they also have a cognative disability as well which prevents some of them normal access to Sudbury Transit with out being rediculed by other passengers.

This is unacceptable!

This is outrageous! I am a DSW and I work at a day program in Sudbury. This is affecting a ton of families and is wrong in every way. A disability is not just physical. It should not matter what a person's diagnosis is, all that matters is that for what ever reason they are not capable of using city transit. Most of the time it is a safety issue for these individuals as they are vulnerable and may be taken advantage of, misled, get lost etc. These individuals have rights like every other member of the community and taking away their means of transportation is limiting their access to much need services in the community whether it is a day program, doctor's appointments etc. This better not happen...the individuals who thought this was okay should be ashamed of themselves!

Makes me sick,just more of the cities narrow minded approach to how they run our (what could be) beautiful city.

This is such an important issue!! Please continue to spread the word and gain support for this petition!

Signed and shared.

I was part of a group of people who advocated for Handi-Transit back in 1985-86. We worked very hard to bring independence, safety along with respect to people who needed this service. Shame on the person(s) who discriminate on these tax payers for taking away their rights. Who are these Decision-Makers? Who has made this decision? I would like to know Why?

The days of black to the back are gone. My God are you kidding. Were going to throw the handicapped in the ditch. Who is the creator of this value.

The city of Sudbury should be very ashamed of themselves. The mayor and any city counsellors that voted for this should be fired!!!!!! Disgusting!

There should be MORE people approved for Handi-Transit, not FEWER!!

with all the mental awareness campaigns and still not much is changing. my son suffers from a mental disability and he is 23 years old now and nothing has changed. i am still fighting for help.

My son has a global developmental delay and he relies on Handi Transit to get to work 2X/week, to his weekly bowling which is the only social outing he has, to doctors appointments etc. Without this service he totally loses his independence. He is sad and worried that he will have to quit everything he loves to do. He will be forced to stay home. We have worked so hard to teach him how to become independent enough to participate in the community and to have a good quality of life. Taking all this away is very devastating for him and for us. We are hoping that the City will listen and give the developmentally challenged individuals peace of mind to travel without anxiety to get them to their destination safely. It's not like they have a choice. They can't drive, they can't afford a taxi, they can't travel the public transit for too many common sense reasons to list, most of them can't even ride a bike or know how to cross intersections safely & they don't always have family or friends to depend on. Why should they? They are paying for this service just like anyone else. Don't they deserve to be considered as all other citizens? Please! change this ridiculous policy. Disability is a disability. It's easy to cut back on the most vulnerable ones that can't fight back. Shame on you Handi Transit!

#88: -  

 Well said... I totally agree. 

#92: -  

I heard that they want to expand their route but needed to purchase more Handi Transit buses to be able to do this.  By kicking off the most vulnerable riders, they wouldn't have to make the purchase therefore saving tons of money. What really makes me angry is how much did they have to spend to hire a couple of Physio Therapists to evaluate all the riders for eligibility. :(