Many older adults limit or stop driving and choose public transportation to stay connected to their communities. As Canada’s population ages, accessible transit therefore becomes essential to maintaining independence, social participation, and quality of life. This session explores how transit design, with a focus on boarding ramps and platform access, directly impacts the ability of older adults and individuals with mobility challenges to navigate their communities. Drawing on CSA research on transit boarding ramps and platforms, this webinar highlights key barriers, shares practical insights and recommendations that support inclusive and accessible transit systems.
By attending this webinar, participants will:
- Discover how everyday Canadians are making contributions to enable a barrier free Canada by 2040.
- Gain an understanding of barriers that older adults may face when navigating transit boarding ramps and platform gaps.
- Explore CSA research, standards, and support tools and how they can be used together to advance safe, inclusive, and user-centered transportation experiences for aging populations and people with disabilities.
Speakers
Taurai Kurebwa
Tau is a Project Manager at CSA Group out of their Toronto headquarters. A PMP and PMI-ACP certified professional, with over 7 years of experience facilitating topics with diverse audiences in accessibility, mental health, home care and health technology. Tau has successfully managed complex, multi-disciplinary projects that have delivered transformative outcomes starting at the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) before joining CSA Group. His expertise spans coordinating cross-functional teams, relationship management, and overseeing the integration of emerging technologies into healthcare systems both in Africa and North America. Tau currently leads expert technical committees that develop standards related to accessibility, medical devices and digital health technology.
Ehsan Moslemizadeh
Ehsan is a Project Manager with CSA Group’s Transit and Passenger Rail program, where he leads standards development and applied research initiatives focused on improving the safety, accessibility, resilience, and performance of transit systems across Canada. He manages projects that bring together transit agencies, researchers, government representatives, accessibility advocates, and industry experts to develop evidence-based solutions and standards. In his role, Ehsan oversees research and stakeholder engagement activities that support the advancement of accessible and inclusive transportation systems, including recent work on deployable boarding ramps and vehicle-platform accessibility.
Dr. Yvette Jones
With over 25 years of research experience, Dr. Jones’ work focuses on human factors, ergonomics, accessibility, and the evaluation of products and systems through applied, user-centred research, often involving people with disabilities and older adults. Her recent projects include CSA Group’s research on transit and passenger rail deployable boarding ramps and vehicle-platform gap widths, as well as studies on powered mobility devices and platform lift design, and wheelchair seating biomechanics. Together, this work bridges published evidence, standards, technical expertise, and lived experience to improve the safety, usability, and accessibility of public transportation and mobility equipment for aging Canadians.
Tim Nolan
After 31 years service to the McMaster community Tim retired in 2020 as Director, Student Accessibility Services. He oversaw the provision of academic accommodations to students with disabilities and the emergence of McMaster’s campus as an accessible place to learn, work and research. Tim was active locally and provincially on issues of accessibility including membership on the first AODA Transportation Standards Development Committee. He is now active with the CSA on a range of accessibility standards with a focus on customer service and transportation among other areas. Tim is the founder and vision behind the Accessibility Hamilton Alliance (AHA!) with the support of many McMaster students and graduates. The two-flagship AHA! undertakings include the Hamilton Accessibility Film Festival and Disability History Month both taking place annually in September.
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