Excellent Media Coverage of the AODA Alliance’s New “Stupidest Ramp in the World” Video

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities

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Excellent Media Coverage of the AODA Alliance’s New “Stupidest Ramp in the World” Video

 

July 21, 2026

 

SUMMARY

 

Since it was made public yesterday, our new 5-minute “Stupidest Ramp in the World” YouTube video has already been viewed 9,000 times! It has already gotten great media coverage:

On July 20, 2026, CBC Radio 1 Toronto’s flagship public affairs Metro Morning program included an interview with AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky. Click here to give it a listen.

  • On July 20, 2026, CBC TV’s 6 PM Toronto newscast included a great report on the stupidest ramp video. Click here to watch it.
  • On July 20, 2026, CBC’s website included a great print article about the stupidest ramp. We set it out below.

On July 21, 2026, CP24 included a story on this on its network. Click here to watch it. It also included a print story on its website, set out below.

 

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CBC News July 20, 2021

 

Originally posted at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/finch-west-lrt-accessibility-concerns-9.7276886

 

Accessibility group slams Metrolinx for ‘stupidest ramp,’ lack of elevator at Finch West LRT

Transit agency says it’s ‘pursuing user testing with individuals representing a range of disabilities’

 

Alina Snisarenko CBC News

 

Accessibility group criticizes Metrolinx for ‘stupidest ramp in the world’

Transit and accessibility advocates are slamming Metrolinx over a design they say fails to provide full accessibility at a new TTC station. A video posted by the group shows how the station is missing a crucial elevator to connect TTC’s Line 1 to the new Finch West LRT. CBC’s Tyler Cheese breaks down the story.

 

Disability advocates are slamming Ontario’s provincial transit agency for not having an elevator connecting Line 6 to Line 1 at Finch West Station, calling the accessible ramp in its place the “stupidest ramp in the world” that creates an “illusion of accessibility.”

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Alliance, an advocacy group that campaigns for effective implementation and enforcement of provincial accessibility standards, put out a YouTube video about the ramp Monday. It featured group chair David Lepfosky, who is blind, navigating the ramp and talking about the challenges it presents.

The video shows a ramp with three inclines broken up by two landings. In a news release Monday, the AODA Alliance said the ramp was 261 feet long, which is nearly 80 metres.

“If you’re powering your own wheelchair up this ramp, I hope you’re a Paralympian and you’ve got that kind of upper body strength, because you’re going to find it exhausting,” Lepofsky told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning Monday.

Lepofsky said it was “shocking” that Metrolinx didn’t think of installing an elevator at Finch West Station when Line 6 was built.

“Imagine having to go up a whole floor in a building vertically, 11 feet vertically, because that’s the distance you have to go up from Line 6 to Line 1,” Lepofsky said.

Accessibility gaps at Eglinton Crosstown stations are limiting some riders, advocates say

Lyndsay Miller, spokesperson for Metrolinx, said it remains dedicated to building a “safe, accessible, and inclusive” transit system.

“We recognize the importance of ongoing feedback and continuous improvement. Metrolinx is pursuing user testing with individuals representing a range of disabilities to better understand customer experiences,” she said in an emailed statement Monday.

Miller said Metrolinx consulted with the TTC and its advisory committee on accessible transit on the design of the connection between Line 6 and Line 1.

WATCH | The accessibility ramp that connects Line 6 to Line 1 at Finch West Station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr67d5bJMLk

Stuart Green, spokesperson for the TTC, said the transit agency remains “committed to making the system accessible to all.”

The TTC has a five-year accessibility plan in the works for 2024-2028. A progress report will be considered when the TTC board meets Wednesday.

Ramp doesn’t deliver ‘reality of accessibility’: advocate

Lepofsky did note that there is a flight of stairs next to the Finch West Station ramp, but not everyone with a disability would be able to use them. In addition to people who use wheelchairs, those with strollers or facing chronic fatigue and pain would also be affected, he said.

Lepofsky also questioned why the Finch West station didn’t have an elevator connecting its two subway lines when other renovated stations, like Cedarvale (which is now home to Line 1 and Line 5), do. Line 6 opened to the public last December.

It’s the Eglinton LRT’s one-month anniversary. How do riders think it’s holding up so far?

August Puranauth, the campaigns manager for TTC Riders, a transit advocacy group, said the issue with the ramp was something the group had noticed from “day one” when Line 6 opened.

“It’s adding a lot of time and a lot of difficulty for people who need to have accessibility. It really should not have been approved in the first place, it should have been an elevator,” said Puranauth.

Meaningful consultation with riders about accessibility is needed to avoid scenarios like Finch West, they said.

The only alternate option to get from Line 6 to Line 1, Lepofsky said, is to use two elevators to go up to street level, and then access the Line 1 platforms through a separate surface entrance.

“It’s so obvious that lots of people with disabilities as well as people with baby strollers, will need that,” he said.

“While we were shooting [the video], there was a woman using a walker going up the ramp. I’m totally blind and I could hear her hyperventilating.”

In its news release, the AODA Alliance said it was calling for an “independent” accessibility audit to be done for Lines 5 and 6.

The ramp creates the “illusion of accessibility, without delivering the reality of accessibility,” said Lapofsky.

“People with disabilities deserve better.”

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alina Snisarenko is a Toronto-based journalist. She currently works as a digital writer for CBC Toronto and has previously worked as an associate producer with CBC Radio’s Metro Morning. You can reach her with story ideas or tips at alina.snisarenko@cbc.ca.

 

CP24 July 21, 2026

 

Originally posted at https://www.cp24.com/local/toronto/2026/07/21/a-mockery-of-accessibility-disability-advocates-slam-metrolinx-over-ramp-at-finch-west-station/

 

‘The stupidest ramp in the world:’ Why disability advocates say changes are needed at Finch West Station

ByCodi Wilson

 

A coalition advocating for disabled Ontarians is speaking out about the accessibility ramp connecting Line 1 and Line 5.

A coalition advocating for disabled Ontarians is slamming Metrolinx over what it has described as the “stupidest ramp in the world” at Finch West Station.

 

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance (AODA) said the provincial transit agency “inexplicably and inexcusably” decided to forego an elevator in favour of a 261-foot ramp to connect riders between Line 6 and Line 1 at the station.

 

“Riders must go up one full floor (11 feet vertical height) on an exhausting 261-foot ramp that only has two landings to rest on the way,” a statement from the group read.

 

“This creates the illusion of accessibility but certainly not the reality of accessibility for people using wheelchairs or walkers, people with chronic fatigue or chronic pain, or parents pushing strollers.”

 

The ramp, the AODA said, “makes a mockery of accessibility.”

 

“A person in a wheelchair could well need a Paralympian’s upper body strength to power their wheelchair up this ridiculous ramp, which is the latest accessibility bungle from Metrolinx,” AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky said in a written statement.

 

 

The group pointed to the recently renovated Cedarvale Station, where Metrolinx “correctly” installed an elevator for riders to transfer between Line 1 and Line 5.

 

“There is no excuse for failing to do the same at the Finch West station,” the coalition said.

 

In response to the AODA, Metrolinx said the design of the station was done in consultation with the TTC and the TTC’s advisory committee on accessible transit.

 

“Metrolinx is dedicated to building a transit system that is safe, accessible, and inclusive for all customers,” a spokesperson for Metrolinx said in an email to CP24.

 

“We recognize the importance of ongoing feedback and continuous improvement. Metrolinx is pursuing user testing with individuals representing a range of disabilities to better understand customer experiences.”