Travel-Training Workshop with the Canucks Autism Network

Who can tell us where is the starting point that we're going to start at today? What do I need to do before you get off? You need to? Pay. Pay. Today we had our pilot accessibility tour with TransLink. We brought a group of youth as well as their parents, caregivers out to have a classroom experience first and then we actually went out on a real bus and they got to practice those steps in real life. Canucks Autism Network developed a curriculum where they talked about etiquette and what to do

on buses, and then Coast Mountain Bus brought in an actual bus where we actually took it on a live route where participants get to practice how to use the information, how to ring the bell, what to do in situations on a bus When the bus is full, if I'm hugging it like a koala bear [laughs] Can anybody else hold on to the pole? No. Learning to use transit is an essential life skill for our youth Some of our youth are not on track to be getting a driver's license, so the ability to use the transit

system independently is an essential skill. It's their gateway to community access, so for them to be able to have a job have volunteer opportunities in their community, recreation, social connection. Being able to ride the bus by themselves is an essential skill that really is their ticket to all those other important things that we know are so key to quality of life.