Accessibility means more than plenty of parking

What if you don't have access to a motor vehicle or someone to drive you?

Public transit access was supposed to be evaluated in the planning process for our new single site acute care hospital. However, More Than Transit, a review of Windsor's public transit service, didn't start until the fall of 2018. Public engagement was conducted in March 2019 - long after Windsor City Council's August 2018 approval to develop Sandwich South. Without data regarding public transit and other forms of active transportation (such as walking and cycling) prior to the City's approval, accessibility concerns -- including the financial costs -- weren't formally addressed in the planning process. How could Windsor City Council possibly have been satisfied that the County Road 42 hospital site would meet residents' accessibility needs?

"More than Transit" Transit Windsor (TW) started a year-long multi-step overhaul in the fall of 2018:

Why a Transit Service Review?  "We’re looking at how transit can support the healthy growth and development of our neighbourhoods. We’re looking at more than transit. The year-long project consists of a review of Transit Windsor’s current network and ridership, existing policies, objectives, service standards and performance targets, as well as system and route performance. It also reviews operating and capital budgets, organization and staffing levels, fleet and facilities, and bus stop amenities including terminals." -- More Than Transit

A completely new public transit route network has been developed. It includes several new connections to the proposed County Road 42 hospital site, but no bus routes within the greenlighted 1,000 acre (400 ha) subdivision to its south - an area that is to accommodate thousands of residents and employees under the plan:

Active Transportation is walking, cycling and public transit This is important in our aging community, where as many as one in five households doesn't own a car. More young people than ever before are choosing to live car-free lifestyles. Windsor City Council received the city's new Active Transportation Master Plan(ATMP) on July 22, 2019. It’s an ambitious $150M plan to guide Windsor’s active transportation investments over the next 20 years. Cognitive dissonance: "very low" active transportation potential in Sandwich South The ATMP (p. 27) identifies Windsor's core areas (in dark blue) as having very high active transportation potential. In contrast, Sandwich South (the lower right quadrant of the map), where the proposed new single site acute care hospital is to be located, is identified as having very low active transportation potential:

This corroborates Windsor Airport's concerns (p. 297) about the feasibility of active transportation along County Road 42:

"Equity need": 14% of Windsor area households don't own a car The ATMP (p.28) describes Windsor neighbourhoods "where limited access to walking or bicycle facilities is compounded by socio-economic challenges."  Residents who can't afford to own a car rely on the least expensive forms of transportation: walking, cycling and public transit. The areas with the highest equity need are dark blue on the map below. There is a large pocket to the east of the city, though population density and absolute population are greater in the neighbourhoods closer to Windsor's downtown:

"It is also important to ensure that those with the highest need are given priority – this is equity. Seeking the input of underrepresented and vulnerable groups to help guide the design and construction of transportation infrastructure will help ensure that these facilities are reflective of the particular needs of these groups ... ... In areas with high equity need, car ownership rates are often quite low due to the expense of owning and maintaining a vehicle. The City should ensure that these areas receive targeted pedestrian, cycling, and transit improvements. This will help ensure that residents of these communities have access to pedestrian facilities that support them in their movements around their community on foot, and allow them to safely move around their neighbourhood without requiring a vehicle to do so." -- Walk Wheel Windsor: Active Transportation Master Plan Final Report

Conflicting priorities for active transportation The current hospital campuses are easy to reach on foot, by bike or by bus.

The 1C is TW's most frequent and heavily used route today: It stops at both Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) campuses, as well at Hotel-Dieu/Grace Tayfour. Several other current bus routes also serve these sites.

In contrast, the proposed hospital location on County Road 42 (15km from Ouellette Campus) will be almost impossible to reach on foot or by bike. The east-west E.C. Row Expressway and the north-south arterial roads are unsuited to walking and cycling.

The ATMP (p.11) explicitly identifies bike lanes and sidewalks south of County Road 42 as very low priority:

Consider this: Erie Shores Healthcare in Leamington (pop. 28k) is more accessible for Kingsville (pop. 22k) residents -- a 12km distance -- than a hospital on County Road 42 will be to the 100,000 people in Windsor's central neighbourhoods!

Unsustainable complexity: Financial and time considerations TW is not financially sustainable without municipal subsidies. It doesn't operate 24/7. How is it financially possible to take on the additional service to County Road 42 when riders are clamouring for improved service on existing routes, as evidenced by the feedback it received from its public engagement? How will it provide adequate service to its users -- the disabled, the elderly, young people and those who don't have access to a car or just don't drive? Today, a single ride bus fare is $3.00. How much more will it cost riders to take ANY bus if the new hospital is built on Windsor's outskirts? How is the cost gap going to be covered? An exurban single site acute care hospital will cost bus riders and taxpayers more, in money and time. Several connection routes to the County Road 42 hospital site have been proposed. Yet, they will add additional transfers and wait times for most people - - - extra travel time from most Windsor locations. And that's if the bus runs on schedule. Infrastructure like the extended transit network will be paid by Windsor taxpayers in perpetuity It is true that the County is contributing $92 million to the project. However, this is earmarked for hospital construction. If built as proposed, Windsor residents will be on the hook for hundreds of millions more - though tens of thousands of city dwellers will have greatly diminished hospital access. What was WRH's CEO thinking when he said this?

FACT: The people who most frequently go to hospital are its thousands of healthcare workers. Today, many live within walking or cycling distance. Not only is this healthier and more convenient, but they don't need to deal with parking.

Trips to the hospital for (some) day procedures, volunteer work and visits to in-patients are also possible by active transportation. Other accessible options overlooked Besides the County Road 42 farmland location, other potential urban hospital sites, some on existing bus routes, were proposed during the site selection process. These sites in developed areas of the City would not require significant resident-funded infrastructure improvements. This project will shape our community for the next half century. Yet, did the decision makers only pay lip service to public transit and other active transportation needs? To summarize: The ATMP identifies neighbourhoods where residents are most likely to be dependent on active transportation. Yet these areas are farthest from the location of the proposed new hospital. Transit Windsor proposes no bus routes south of County Road 42.  Bike lanes and sidewalks are explicitly identified as very low priority in Sandwich South. There is no insight into the anticipated costs to taxpayers - in perpetuity - of maintaining 24/7 public transit service to the proposed hospital site. Real active transportation planning appears to have been omitted in the approval process for our new $2 billion County Road 42 single site acute care hospital and the surrounding Sandwich South development. How does the City of Windsor consider this to be acceptable planning?

In their own words: Weekly round-up of comments from our friends and neighbours "My mom was in the hospital a few weeks ago, absolutely have no complaints about her care. My complaint is the rooms are not as clean as they should be, please don't blame it on the age of the facility" "If placing this in a more central location will cause it not to be built, what does this say about whether it was truly necessary to build it at all? Why would a change in location stop its construction, or support by the upper levels of government?" "Accessibility means more than how easy it is to get there by car " "Enclosed is a cheque for CAMPP legal fees. Here's hoping some resolution is achieved within the near future. Thanks for all your work." "Modest contribution enclosed. Wish it could be ten times as much." "We won't lose it. The hospital is good. It's the location that doesn't work." "And how does a hospital in the middle of nowhere- very inaccessible to those who rely on public or active transportation (which is predominantly the poor and elderly) -allow family and friends to provide a "familiar and reassuring presence"? The planning committee really bungled this one, minimizing built-in social interaction by design and making it next-to-impossible for the most vulnerable members of society to visit their hospitalized family and friends!" "I don't believe urban planning is central to the hospital argument, the hospital itself is. However, good overall urban planning makes sense and the hospital should be a part of that." "I will live 16 kilometers from the 'mega', if it is built at the proposed site. I doubt there is a single soul in Toronto who is that far from an emergency room. Our mayor and council are playing with our lives." "A major acute care hospital with an international airport at its doorstep raises issues. Windsor International Airport encompasses 2,200 acres, of which approximately 1,100 have been identified surplus and earmarked for a variety of aviation commercial, non-aviation and industrial (solar farm) development. Proposed residential accommodation south of that airport places that airport facility at the demographic hub or the critical core of a “Not So Smart City”." "one of the worst decisions our city has ever made" "So many longer trips will not be good for the environment. Or time or money." "We vote people into positions of authority because we 'think' they'll represent our best interests better than some other candidate. What we're really doing is voting them into 'power' to better represent the interests of someone 'other than' us. Any opposition to their agenda(s) is treated as disloyal, and they've all the money/power necessary to convince the masses/common law courts of their position. Thank God for those strong and wise enough to enlighten and encourage the rest of us to take action." "How the hell is my friend who has to go for cancer treatment get there. It will cost the taxpayers even more money. He thinking about moving to London." "why make things worse in the core? Going the wrong way. Check out Halifax, Nova Scotia has always kept a strong core, hospitals are kept there too." "I agree we need a new hospital but it makes no sense to close the existing hospitals in the core l. At least one should be left for acute/trauma. If you want to know why our hospitals are in such shitty conditions look no further than the CEO and board at WRH. They are not spending $ to properly maintain the existing hospitals in order to justify the new one. We still deserve well maintained hospitals in the meantime as it will take years to.build the new one WHEREVER that will be. Your hallway medicine won't stop if they are building the same amount of beds. We need more long term health care to get patients moving out and make room for new patients. A new building will not change this. It also won't change the fact that so many janitorial staff are laid off to keep the hospital clean. This doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize these things. Just a little common sense and compassionate reflection . Trust me, i have had experience as a patient and a caregiver. I had to clean my mom's area and take her for showers or she didn't get one. A new building won't fix that. We do deserve a new building but must not forget the vulnerable sectors within the City"