AODA Alliance
ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE
NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Disability Advocates Get High-Level Meeting with Metrolinx CEO Over Accessibility Problems in Eglinton Crosstown Stations – Metrolinx to Explore Solutions and Consider a Request for an Independent Accessibility Audit of Those Stations
June 24, 2026 Toronto: Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay met yesterday afternoon with AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky and Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians President Marcia Yale. They got this high-level meeting because of the public release earlier this month of an 8-minute AODA Alliance online video.
That video reveals how Metrolinx seriously messed up the routing of tactile wayfinding floor markers in the new multi-floor Chaplin station. These markings show blind passengers only how to find the elevators, which too often break down. They don’t show blind riders how to find the escalators or stairs in these labyrinthian stations.
Lepofsky and Yale objected to Metrolinx having wrongly decided that passengers with vision loss should only use elevators, and should not be able to use stairs or escalators when going down the several levels of any transit station. During their one hour meeting, which Lepofsky summarized in a letter to the Metrolinx CEO set out below, They asked Metrolinx to agree to two important steps:
- To fix the problems with wayfinding in Eglinton Crosstown stations so that transit riders with vision loss have the choice of taking stairs, escalators or elevators in these stations, and
- To engage an organization with respected expertise in accessibility to undertake a comprehensive independent audit of disability barriers in the Eglinton Crosstown stations (not limited to this wayfinding issue), with that report to be made public.
“Metrolinx CEO agreed to look into possible solutions to fix this wayfinding problem for blind passengers, and to consider the idea of having an independent accessibility audit conducted of the Eglinton Crosstown transit line. He did not state for sure that the wayfinding problems would be fixed, or that an independent accessibility audit will be conducted,” said Lepofsky. “However, we’ve now made some progress, and Mr. Lindsay wants us dealing with him directly on these issues, obviously as a result of our advocacy efforts.”
In August 2024, the AODA Alliance made public an earlier online video that showed serious accessibility problems at the new Toronto courthouse on Armoury Street, costing almost one billion dollars. The Ford Government received accessibility complaints about that building After that courthouse opened, but before release of that video. As a result, the Ford Government had two separate independent accessibility audits conducted of that building. These reports corroborated the accessibility objections in that video and identified further problems.
At yesterday’s meeting with the Metrolinx CEO, he was urged to do the same here. He was told that it is essential that any such audit’s report be made public, so that there is real accountability to the public.
Contact: AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
Learn more at the AODA Alliance website’s transportation page.
June 3, 2026 Letter from AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky to Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance
United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities
Web: www.aodaalliance.org Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance
June 23, 2026
To: Michael Lindsay, President & CEO
Via email: michael.lindsay@metrolinx.com
Metrolinx Corporation
97 Front Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1E6 Canada
Dear Sir,
Re: Accessibility Problems Facing Passengers with Disabilities on the New Eglinton Crosstown Transit Line
Thank you for meeting with representatives of the AODA Alliance and the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians by Zoom on June 23, 2026. As well, thank you for viewing in advance the 8-minute online video which explains the wayfinding problems in the Chaplin station, as an illustration of our concerns.
I write to sum up some of the key points at our meeting.
We made two requests of you:
- Please commit to fix the problems with wayfinding in Eglinton Crosstown stations so that transit riders with vision loss have the choice of taking stairs, escalators or elevators in these stations, and
- Please engage an organization with respected expertise in accessibility to undertake a comprehensive independent audit of disability barriers in the Eglinton Crosstown stops (not limited to this wayfinding issue), with that report to be made public.
In response, you agreed to have Metrolinx investigate options for solving the wayfinding problems in these route stations and stops. You asked the AODA Alliance and AEBC to be among the those involved in this process. You did not contend that the status quo in these stations is sufficient. You did not categorically commit that the problem we identified will be fixed, but stated that you are committed to achieving accessibility for transit riders.
You did not rule out our request for an independent accessibility audit but did not categorically commit to one. Again, you will look into this and want an organization who will be accepted as qualified. I explained that it is important that those conducting such an accessibility audit be free to offer whatever advice they deem appropriate in their professional judgement, free of any direction from any outside organization. What Metrolinx later decides to do with their advice is, of course a separate issue.
I emphasized that this independent accessibility audit is needed because other accessibility problems have been identified with Eglinton Crosstown stations. We don’t suggest that the wayfinding problem we have identified is the only one requiring remediation. The accessibility audit would give you the best information for planning corrective action, and assisting with future station design.
We agreed with the idea of preparing a mock-up to get feedback from people with vision loss on possible improvements to the station tactile wayfinding. We also agreed that it would be worthwhile to fix one station first and get feedback on it, before proceeding to fix other stations.
We were told that it had been decided in or around 2015 that the tactile wayfinding would only lead to elevators, not stairs or escalators. We gave you the feedback that such a decision or possible choice should have been made public back then, for feedback from us, the users. I anticipate that Metrolinx would have been given very substantial feedback that people with vision loss should not be forced to depend on unreliable transit station elevators, and denied the choice of using stairs or escalators.
We were told that the decision had been made to only provide tactile wayfinding to elevators because it made the path of travel easiest to follow all the way through the station to the trains. I responded that the design that Metrolinx implemented falls far short on that score.
As our video illustrated, the tactile wayfinding does not always proceed in a simple straight line. At one point in the Chaplin station, it makes absolutely unnecessary 90 degree turns.
As well, there is no reason why tactile wayfinding markings could not have been included on the first floor below street level. The wayfinding route to the escalators could not possibly be confused with a wayfinding route to the elevator. There is no elevator on that floor. There is at present no tactile wayfinding on that floor.
Moreover, though not shown in the video, there is no tactile wayfinding markings whatsoever outside the station to guide a person with vision loss to either of the doors to enter the station at street level.
You expressed a serious concern that there are accessibility problems being reported about the Eglinton Crosstown stations, given the internal steps taken at Metrolinx to address accessibility. You wanted our input on this. We’d told you that be delighted to assist with this.
We explained that the fact that there are such accessibility problems proves that the existing planning processes within Metrolinx are not working. I shared that the AODA Alliance has been raising serious concerns with the Ontario Government for quite a number of years about the serious problems with how the Government (including Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario) deal with accessibility. We have urged major reforms for years. We have not seen the needed improvements.
As a short summary, I explained that Metrolinx and other Government bodies involved with building infrastructure should make public the independent accessibility advice it gives, and should do so when it receives that advice. There should be accountability for those who decide to disregard it. For all we know, the Government could be assigning major new projects to those who have wrongly disregarded accessibility advice on earlier projects.
As well, accessibility must be built into the design process from the very start. Metrolinx needs to do more of this, and to consult people with disabilities starting very early in the design process.
I explained that earlier this month, I attended a meeting of the Mimico Residents Association which has been advocating without success for at least a decade to get Metrolinx to make the Mimico Go station accessible. At that meeting, Metrolinx representatives told those assembled, including me, that they will consult with the community on the station changes when the design process is as much as 90% completed. At that meeting, I voiced the strong objection that this is far too late in the design process to get input on accessibility design.
While our discussion with you focused solely on Line Eglinton Crosstown (5), our thoughts are equally applicable to the Finch West line (Line 6).
You told us to follow up with your office on next steps. We look forward to doing so. Creating appropriate wayfinding in the Eglinton Crosstown stations, and indeed in all transit stations in Ontario, should not be hard to do. It is vital that the experience of us, the riders, is paramount.
Sincerely,
David Lepofsky CM, O. Ont
Chair Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance
Twitter: @davidlepofsky
CC: Marcia Yale, President AEBC president@blindcanadians.ca