Elizabeth Peloza
- What do you feel is the #1 accessibility issue facing the city of London?
Paratransit still has a ways to go for coverage area, booking, paymnet and ride avialability.
2. How will you commit to improving accessible housing opportunities in our city?
A few near term and low cost things London could concider would be expeditied approvals, or see if the province has any acessible , advocate to the province for greater than 15% of units be acessible in new multi-unit builds, have a high ratio of acessible units in new and renovated community projects that the city is the landloard of.
3. How will you work to improve accessible transportation including conventional transit, Paratransit, taxis and ride sharing?
In prior years, the taxi industry advocated for changes around acessible taxi vechiles that would allow them to operate for a year or so longer than regular vehciles. The case was laid out of supply chain issues, demand for the service and the extra cost in offering a specialized vehile, I was grateful for the knowledge and happy to support the change.
1. What do you feel is the #1 accessibility issue facing the City of London?
I believe one of London’s greatest accessibility challenges is that accessibility is too often addressed after a service, building, street, or system has already been designed, rather than being incorporated from the beginning.
For someone with a disability, one inaccessible part of a journey can make the entire service inaccessible. An accessible building does little good if someone cannot reliably get there. Accessible transit does little good if the sidewalk, intersection, or entrance at the destination creates another barrier.
I want London to move toward an accessibility-by-design approach. When we build housing, redesign streets, purchase transit services, develop digital services, or plan public spaces, accessibility should be considered from the beginning and people with disabilities should have meaningful opportunities to shape those decisions.
I also believe accountability matters. We should be measuring accessibility outcomes, identifying persistent barriers, establishing timelines for improvements, and publicly reporting our progress.
2. How will you commit to improving accessible housing opportunities in our city?
Housing affordability is one of the central issues behind my campaign, but affordability and accessibility cannot be separated. A home that someone can afford but cannot safely use is not truly accessible housing.
I support increasing London’s overall housing supply while making it easier to build a wider variety of housing. I have also been developing technology aimed at reducing unnecessary delays in permitting, licensing, and zoning processes. As we accelerate housing construction, however, accessibility cannot become something sacrificed for speed.
I would support identifying opportunities to increase the supply of accessible and adaptable housing and working with builders, housing providers, accessibility advocates, and people with lived experience to understand where London’s current barriers exist.
I am particularly interested in adaptable housing: designing homes so that they can accommodate changing mobility and accessibility needs without requiring extraordinarily expensive reconstruction later. Features such as appropriate entrances, circulation space, adaptable washrooms, and thoughtful layouts can have an enormous impact on whether someone can remain independently housed.
I would also support examining City-owned land, affordable housing initiatives, planning incentives, partnerships, and other municipal tools to determine where London can increase accessible housing options.
Most importantly, I would want members of London’s disability community involved when these policies are being developed—not simply asked for feedback after the decisions have effectively already been made.
3. How will you work to improve accessible transportation including conventional transit, Paratransit, taxis and ride sharing?
Accessible transportation should provide people with independence, reliability, and dignity.
For conventional transit, I would advocate for continued improvements to accessible stops, shelters, sidewalks, crossings, boarding areas, and connections between transit and people’s destinations. Accessibility cannot end at the bus door.
For Paratransit, I would focus particularly on reliability, availability, booking experience, wait times, and communication with riders. Performance should be measured using the experiences that actually matter to passengers—not simply whether a service technically exists.
Technology can also help. Better real-time information, accessible digital booking systems, clearer arrival information, and improved coordination can make transportation more predictable. However, technology should provide additional options rather than creating new barriers for residents who cannot or do not use smartphones.
For taxis and ride sharing, I would support examining how London can encourage greater availability and reliability of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and work with service providers and the disability community to identify barriers that currently make these options less dependable.
Across all four areas, I would support establishing clear performance measures and publicly reporting progress. If elected, I would also want regular engagement with organizations such as the Accessible London Coalition and, most importantly, Londoners with lived experience of disability.
My approach to municipal government is that we should identify problems, measure them, implement practical solutions, and then publicly measure whether those solutions actually worked. I would bring that same approach to accessibility.
A more accessible London is not simply a benefit for one group of Londoners. Accessible streets, homes, transportation and public services make our city more independent, inclusive and usable for everyone.
Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to share my position. I look forward to continuing the conversation throughout the campaign.
Accessible London Coalition 