In this age of accessibility, equity, inclusion, tolerance, acceptance and accountability, I wonder what prevents Transit Windsor from adhering to any of these principles. Having a monopoly on public transit does not bestow upon any company or its employees the right to blatantly and intentionally treat an individual in an inexcusably appalling manner.

Last Saturday (May 10) I took my mother to Tecumseh Mall. She is a senior citizen and a stroke survivor who has mobility issues and must walk very slowly and carefully with a quad cane. When we go out, I always get her in and out of the car at curbside, having to get out of my car to help her with the door and her cane. She was waiting for me at the ramp outside the food court and the ramp is between two lengthy bus bays for Transit Windsor. There were no buses as I rounded the corner from the parking lot to get my mother at the ramp. As I hopped out of my car and jogged around to the passenger side, a bus entered the parking lot and the driver emitted two (or perhaps three) long and sudden blasts on the horn startling me and almost causing my mother to lose her balance and fall over. There are at least two other lanes that were EMPTY that the bus could have used to go around my car and access the second bus bay. Upon hearing the horn, I did a visual check on my mother, told her to go back up on the sidewalk and I jogged back around my car to pull a u-turn which permitted the bus to enter the bay without having to venture around my car. I then pulled back in front of the ramp and got my mother into the car, which takes about one or two minutes. All the while, the bus remained sitting in the bay and was still sitting there when we left.

I called Transit Windsor at approximately 5:30 p.m. that evening and left a voicemail indicating that I wanted to lodge a complaint about one of their drivers. I clearly stated my name and phone number, said that I wanted to give them the opportunity to remedy my complaint and that I expected a return call as soon as possible. I recognized that since it was the weekend, they might not get to my voicemail until Monday, so I said that if I did not hear from them by end of day Monday, I would write a Letter to the Editor of The Windsor Star. It is now 7:16 p.m. Monday, May 12 and I have not heard from them, suggesting to me that Transit Windsor has no desire to maintain a strong public image, nor does it want to be accountable for actions of its drivers.

What are my issues with this? First, although the area IS marked as a bus stop, I was BETWEEN the bus bays where I have seen taxis innumerable times and nary do bus drivers lay on their horns at taxis. Second, the two long blasts of the horn could have caused my mother to fall since her balance is precarious; a simple short tap or toot of the horn would have sufficed and I would not be penning this letter. Third, my remedy was going to be that Transit Windsor supervisors have a chat with the driver in question and send a letter of apology signed by him/ her to my mother, but they have failed to even inquire about my complaint. Fourth, the bus was NOT behind schedule, since the bus sat in the bay for at least several minutes after pulling in. Fifth, it was obvious what I was doing since there was an older woman with a cane waiting at the ramp and since the driver saw me jog around my car towards her.

I do not know if this driver was just having a bad day, is impatient by nature, regularly suffers from road rage, does not care for older people, does not like his/ her mother or has it out for those with disabilities, but I CAN tell you that this driver deliberately treated my mother in a disrespectful and offensive manner which is absolutely inexcusable! She has only been disabled for 15 months now and is very sensitive to the many intentional and unintentional slights that others often subject those with disabilities to. Each of these impolite acts has a negative impact on her sense of worth and thus on her well-being as a whole; to witness a company as visible as Transit Windsor perpetuate such reprehensible behavior is utterly shocking and disheartening. Shame on you, Transit Windsor!