A Guide to Seniors Transportation Toronto
Getting around Toronto can be challenging for seniors. In addition to providing home health care services, Retire-At-Home Services would like to offer this guide to help you and your loved ones find transportation in the city. Seniors transportation Toronto.
For reference, you can download a shortened version of this guide here.
Wheel Trans Tel 416-393-4111
Wheel-Trans provides door-to-door accessible transit service for persons with physical disabilities.
Eligibility
Eligibility is determined by your mobility, and specifically, how you can handle stairs. People with Alzheimer’s or dementia will not be eligible for Wheel Trans as long as they are physically mobile. All Wheel-Trans applicants, regardless of mobility status, are required to attend an in-person interview in order to determine eligibility.
With Wheel Trans, you may travel with one Support Person or Companion or all your dependent children for trips scheduled from Monday to Friday.
Call Wheel-Trans Customer Service at (416) 393-4111 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, to make arrangements for an interview or if you have any questions about the process for applying for Wheel-Trans.
Cost
You must provide a regular TTC fare each time you take a trip with Wheel-Trans. Tickets, tokens, valid TTC passes or exact cash fare are accepted.
Where can you go?
Wheel-Trans service is available anywhere within the City of Toronto, as well as up to 1 kilometre into the adjacent regions of Peel, York, and Durham.
Toronto Ride Tel 416-481-5250
Toronto Ride is a collaborative partnership of fourteen not-for-profit, community support service agencies that provides door-to-door, assisted transportation to seniors 55+ and adults with disabilities who are not eligible for Wheel-Trans.
Eligibility
Clients must:
- Reside within our partner agencies’ boundaries of Steeles Avenue to the north, the Lake Ontario to the south, Highway 427 to the west, and the Pickering Town Line to the east. Basically any place whose postal code begins with the letter M.
- Be able to enter and exit our vehicles with limited assistance;
- Have foldable walkers and wheel-chairs, if required.
If a client needs an escort for a ride, one escort is allowed to join the client free of charge. Additional escorts are charged at the same rate as the client.
Contact the Toronto Ride at 416-481-5250 or admin@torontoride.ca to get started. Transportation services are provided Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Cost
Cost is based on distance (per km) travelled.
Where can you go?
Medical appointments, Therapy appointments, Rehabilitation programs, Adult Day Programs, grocery stores, banks, hairdressers, the mall, social outings to visit friends.
Collaborating agencies: Better Living Health and Community Services, Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services, Etobicoke Services for Seniors, Harmony Hall – Call-A-Service Inc., Humber Community Seniors’ Services Inc., Neighbourhood Link Support Services, SPRINT Senior Care, St. Clair West Services for Seniors Inc., Storefront Humber Inc., Warden Woods Community Centre, West Neighbourhood House, WoodGreen Community Services
iRide Tel 1-844-474-3301
Similar to Toronto Ride, iRide provides door-to-door, assisted transportation to seniors 55+, and adults with disabilities who are not eligible for Wheel-Trans.
Eligibility
Seniors who:
- Are unable to access other transportation services, such as transit, due to mobility or other limitations.
- Can access vehicles with limited assistance.
- Require a companion to accompany them (e.g. clients with cognitive impairment)
- Have foldable walkers or light weight foldable wheelchairs.
Pick-ups can be scheduled Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with weekend service available upon request.
Cost
Cost is based on distance (per km) travelled.
Where can you go?
Access health care, programs, and services. Small group outings and visits,
- Group Grocery shopping,
- Recreational trips,
- Pre-appointed group trips,
- Individual trips for medical appointments, recreational purposes, etc.,
- Other transportation needs.
Collaborating agencies:
Circle of Care, Lumacare, Better Living, Care first, March of Dimes, North York Seniors Centre, Villa Colombo.
Canadian Cancer Society Tel 416-488-5400
Driving service for people receiving cancer treatment.
Eligibility
People receiving cancer treatment
Service is not guaranteed, but approximately 85% of requests are fulfilled. If service cannot be fulfilled, they will give you 2 days’ notice. Four working days’ notice is needed to set up care.
Cost
Service is free of charge after a one-time fee of $100 (fee is adjustable on a sliding scale to income).
Where can you go?
Will bring patients from Toronto (including Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough) into the major hospitals and back home again. Won’t drive to clinics, but will go to major hospitals.
Downtown Care-Ring Tel 416-868-1190
Downtown Care-Ring provides services free of charge to elderly, physically challenged, and persons in need.
Eligibility
Elderly, physically challenged, and persons in need.
Serving: St Clair Avenue on the north side to Lakefront on the south, and from Pape Avenue on the east to Bathurst Street on the west side.
Cost
Free of charge.
Where can you go?
Transportation to appointments. Medical appointments get priority.
Native Canadian Centre of Toronto Tel 416-964-9087
Medical transportation for Aboriginal seniors aged 59 or older.
Scarborough
Transcare Community Support Service Tel 416-750-9885
Low cost and senior-friendly transportation and escort services to medical appointments, other therapeutic programs and grocery shopping.
Eligibility
Seniors or disabled adults who use this service are often dealing with one or more of the following:
- They have physical or psychological limitations that prevent them using public transportation
- They are frail and require an escort
- They may not be eligible for Wheel Trans or any other assisted transportation
- Their friends or relatives may not be available to drive them and a taxi service is more than they can afford
Where can you go?
This service can be used for any kind of transportation you need, but priority is given to those who need rides to medical appointments.
Other Services
Grocery Delivery to Your Door: If you are unable to go out to do your own shopping, our drivers can do the shopping for you. Simply provide us your grocery list and we will pick up what you need and deliver it right to your home.
Group Shopping: We provide transportation for group outings, like shopping. A group of up to seven people may be picked up.
Etobicoke, Brampton, Milton and Woodbridge
Seniors Ride Connect Tel 416-743-3892
Seniors Ride Connect partners with other service providers within the Etobicoke, Brampton, Malton and Woodbridge areas.
Eligibility
Any senior ages 55+, or if you are and adult with a physical disability.
Cost
Fees are calculated by distance travelled, as well as on a sliding scale to income.
Where can you go?
They provide clients with rides to medical and health related appointments as well as to shopping and social events.