Room: Mississauga AB
Sponsor(s)
 
Session Description
Supporting Mobility: Travel Training, Family Services, and Wayfinding
Stream: Operations
Moderator: Deborah Daniel – Durham Region Transit
This session will cover all aspects of travel training, including route specific, eligibility specific, and general orientation for conventional, on-demand, and paratransit systems.
TTC Wheel-Trans: Travel Training Program Review
Speakers:
Arlen Orellana – Toronto Transit Commission Travel Trainer
The Toronto Transit Commission is the third-largest public transit system in North America, delivering approximately 1.3 million customer trips each day. The Wheel-Trans department provides paratransit services to support accessible travel for a population of more than 3 million residents. This presentation will offer an overview of the Family of Services program, share current statistics that highlight departmental progress, and showcase key accomplishments and new initiatives planned for 2026. It will also include an overview of the training programs offered by Wheel-Trans, along with a preview of the latest customer-facing travel training video series.
York Region TransitÂ’s My Ride Program: A Transit Orientation to York Region Residents
Speaker: Elizabeth Sinclair – York Region Transit Travel Trainer
York Region Transit (YRT) will demonstrate an example of our MyRide presentation. The MyRide program is part of YRTÂ’s community outreach to the public to encourage and assist York Region residents in using public transportation. This is an innovative travel training program to promote the use of public transit services throughout the region. The presentation covers both conventional and paratransit service, additionally discussed On-Request, and 65+ Services offering a tailored approach for each group.
Addressing Wayfinding Challenges Faced by the Canadian Transit Sector
Speakers: Yuval Grinspun – Left Turn Right Turn & Adriana Shu Yin – CSA
Navigating Canadian transit systems remains challenging for millions of riders—including people with disabilities, linguistic minorities, aging populations, and visitors—due to fragmented and inconsistent wayfinding practices. These challenges undermine accessibility, safety, and user confidence, creating barriers to independent travel and equitable participation in public transit. CSA Group recently published a research report examining these issues. This session will explore several systemic gaps revealed by the analysis, including the absence of a broadly adopted national wayfinding standard, inconsistent application of accessibility principles, inadequate integration of multilingual and Indigenous languages, and a growing disconnect between physical signage and digital navigation tools. These gaps are compounded by operational constraints, such as limited resources for maintenance and governance, and the lack of protocols for temporary wayfinding during service disruptions or emergencies.
The session will also cover core wayfinding principles—consistency, clarity, continuity, inclusivity, and systematic planning—as foundational to effective navigation systems, and how current practices and operational weaknesses often fall short, resulting in signage that is visually inconsistent, poorly placed, or inaccessible to users with diverse needs. The study also underscores the urgency of addressing information equity, ensuring riders with disabilities have access to the same real-time wayfinding information as other users, both physically and digitally. This includes bridging the digital–physical divide by mandating Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance for apps and kiosks, standardizing open data formats such as GTFS-Pathways, and integrating real-time accessibility features like elevator status and detour alerts. Together, this session will outline the measures needed to form a roadmap toward a coherent, inclusive, and future-ready wayfinding ecosystem that supports universal design, multilingual communication, and seamless integration of technology.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Recognize systemic gaps in Canadian transit wayfinding, including the absence of a national standard, inconsistent accessibility practices, and challenges in multilingual and Indigenous language integration.
2. Apply core wayfinding principles—consistency, clarity, continuity, inclusivity, and systematic planning—to improve navigation systems and reduce user confusion.
3. Understand operational weaknesses such as lack of maintenance protocols, poor temporary signage during disruptions, and governance challenges, and identify strategies to address them.
4. Bridge the digital–physical divide by implementing WCAG-compliant digital tools, standardizing open data formats (e.g., GTFS-Pathways), and integrating real-time accessibility features like elevator status and detour alerts.
5. Develop a roadmap for inclusive wayfinding that supports universal design, multilingual communication, and technology integration to create a future-ready transit ecosystem.
Speaker(s) / Presenter(s)
Bio:
Arlen is a 21?year veteran of public transit, having spent her career with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). She currently serves as a Travel Specialist at Wheel?Trans, bringing extensive experience in customer service, emergency response, and accessible transit services. Arlen works daily with customers of diverse abilities and is a member of the Travel Training team. She plays a key role in supporting the Family of Services initiative, contributing to scenario troubleshooting, program refinement, and improvements to Wheel?Trans travel training. Her work is grounded in a strong commitment to customer?centred service, supported by comprehensive knowledge of TorontoÂ’s public transit system.
Elizabeth Sinclair – Transit Ability Coordinator, Mobility On-Request Department, York Region Transit (YRT)
Bio:
In this role, Elizabeth assesses customerÂ’s mobility for travel through the application process and in-person functional assessments, provides travel training to customers, conducts community outreach activities through the MyRide travel training program, promoting the use of public transit and ensures compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Yuval Grinspun – CEO and Principal, Left Turn Right Turn
Bio:
Yuval Grinspun has been working in the public transit industry since 2002. He has supported large-scale transformation projects for agencies across the continent. In 2014 he founded Left Turn Right Turn, a transit-focused consultancy that supports organizations across the country on business strategy, service planning, accessibility, and technology programs. Since, then, LTRT has grown to over experts advancing important transportation and accessibility projects for organizations across Canada. Outside of work, Yuval is obsessed with board game design, curling, beach volleyball, puzzles, interesting food and his family.
Adriana Shu-Yin – Program Manager, Transit and Passenger Rail, CSA Group
Bio:
Adriana Shu-Yin is the Program Manager for Transit and Passenger Rail at the Canadian Standards Association (CSA Group), where she manages the portfolio of standards that enhance safety, innovation, efficiency and resilience across the transit and passenger rail sector. Before stepping into her current role, she played a key part in CSA Group’s initiatives on climate change and circular economy, contributing to standards that promote long-term environmental stewardship.
Moderator(s)
Deborah Daniel – Program Manager, Community Engagement and Change Management, Durham Region Transit