The Voice - DATs with Jason M

Join VAD as we learn about DATs in Edmonton.  A ride program for individuals with disabilities.  

Transcript

Teresa M, VAD Society

Welcome to the Voice of Albertans with Disabilities podcast for February 2026. I'm Teresa Makarewich, your host and VAD's Program and Services Manager. Thanks for joining us today. Voice of Albertans with Disability gratefully acknowledges that what we call Alberta is the traditional and ancestral territories and gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our vibrant communities. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to the many First Nations, Metis settlements, and the six regions of the Metis Nations of Alberta and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. Hy, hy. 

VAD has been talking with local agencies to learn about the resources that are available to the disability community. And in today's podcast, I'll be talking to Jason McGee from DATS. DATS is a service available to residents of Edmonton who cannot use regular transit because of physical and or cognitive disability. Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis following specific guidelines and a registration process. Thank you, Jason, for coming on the podcast to discuss DATS. Together we hold the power. I'm excited to hear what's new with your organization. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role?

Jason McGee, DATs

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I think it's so great to have this podcast as a resource for people. And I just listened to the IDPD version of the podcast. I think that was back in December. And it was just, it was great to hear so many different groups and organizations chime in. We can make our province, but specifically Edmonton, for me, more accessible, right? So I'm Jason McGee. I'm the supervisor of client services here at DATS. And I've been here at DATS for 11 years now, but I'm still fairly new to this role. I've been doing this job now for just over a year.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Perfect. Now that we know a bit about you, and for listeners who may not be familiar, can you tell us who DATS is as an organization?

Jason McGee, DATs

Yeah, for sure. So DATS is an acronym for the Dedicated Accessible Transit Service. And we are a part of Edmonton Transit. So we're a very important part of Edmonton Transit. So we only serve people here in Edmonton. And we serve people who cannot use conventional transit. So what that means is if they have any barriers that are like a cognitive barrier, a physical barrier, living with mental health disorder, living with any number of disabilities, cognitive, yeah, physical, even sensory, and they cannot use the LRT or they cannot use the big bus, the fixed route transit, they come to us and apply to use DATS. We're a door-to-door service, which is incredibly important, especially in the winter. And we are pre-booked. So you can book as far as three days in advance for trips, and those pre-booked trips are guaranteed. So we really do provide really important trips for a lot of people in the disabled community.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Building on that, what is DAT's mission, mandate, and overall vision?

Jason McGee, DATs

Ooh, great question. We have an official vision, mission, and values. So our vision is to provide industry-leading and sustainable specialized transportation solutions that connect people, resources, and communities. That's sort of our big, big picture job, right. But our specific mission is to provide customer-focused, so really, really about customer service, safe, we're really about safety, and reliable door-to-door shared ride services for those who are unable to use conventional transit. So we value safety, we value respect, we value customer service, we value compassion, we value teamwork. We're unique among Edmonton Transit in that everyone who works for DATS works in the same building. So we really do have sort of a really great team. We're really integrated with each other. I can just go down the hallway and have a conversation with dispatch, like it's, we're a big family here, it's great.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Taking that a step further, what difference does DATS make in the community for people with disabilities?

Jason McGee, DATs

Well, you know, I talk to our users every day pretty much, and I think they access their community. And I hate to say it, but we are providing that access. It's so important. It's so integral to make sure people can get to work, that people can get to their medical appointments, that people can just access their community in general. It's almost like this invisible thing that happens. You know, not a lot of people realize how much goes into transit in general. It's a lot of planning. It's a lot of resource management. But without it, I think I think it would be a real challenge for a lot of people to access these in general. So it's a vital lifeline for people who live here in Edmonton.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Definitely helps people get out of social isolation. Yeah, That's really helpful content. For someone listening and wondering if this service is for them, can you explain the eligibility criteria and who qualifies to use that?

Jason McGee, DATs

Yeah, absolutely. So The criteria here is, like I mentioned earlier, is you have to be someone who's living with a disability, and whether that is physical, cognitive, mental health, or sensory, and you have to be unable to use conventional transit due to that disability. So we have a very strict sort of application process. We usually have a pre-screener. We like to have a phone call with the applicant or their caregiver or their family. to get a better understanding of how familiar they are with Edmonton Transit in general, because our bus fleet is fully accessible in terms of, you know, they have the kneeling feature, they have the ramps for wheelchair users, and same with the LRT. And a lot of people who may not use transit anyway or are new to a disability may not realize that, right, where there's just like a gap of knowledge. So we really do try to work with our partners with ETS to ensure that people have the information they need to access the transit solution that is most convenient for them and are most accessible for them. If for whatever reason, they cannot use those conventional transit tools like the bus or the LRT or on demand service, then we go through the process of determining is DATS for you? Is DATS for you only in the winter, for example? Do you need somebody to travel with you on DATS? We get into that sort of grip sort of determination at that time. But it is a bit of a it is a bit of an application process. And we we recently kind of overhauled that whole process because we we were kind of missing some key components there in terms of mental health, in terms of sensory disabilities that were just not as up to date as other paratransit organizations. And we're there now, which is terrific. We see so many applications from people who are living with PTSD or high social anxiety and are now able to access their communities when they weren't before.

Teresa M, VAD Society

That's amazing. Once someone is approved, and for those who've never used a specialized transit service before, can you walk us through a typical ride process from booking to drop off?

Jason McGee, DATs

I think I mentioned earlier. earlier that we book up to 3 days in advance. So you can call into our call center. We have a great team here ready to take a call once once you're approved. To book as far as 3 days in advance or for the next day up until noon. So, for example, if I wanted to book for tomorrow, we have to kind of cut off at noon. That gives our scheduling team time to. basically build the schedules for all of our buses and all of our contractors for the next day. But we do sometimes take on demand trips. So sometimes we have gaps. We have people that might have canceled the trip and we are able to take those same day requests. Those ones, unfortunately, aren't guaranteed. So we really do ensure that people understand that booking in advance is is the best way to do to get the service. You can book online. We have an excellent online booking tool. So if people are a little bit more inclined to use technology, we encourage that. It's got some great features. The online booking tool, it's got a map. You can see when your vehicle's on its way, when it's scheduled, that sort of thing. And people love it, so we really do try to encourage people to use that. Beyond that, we do group trips, we do subscription trips. Subscription trips are sort of a recurring trip that people can use. So if you know that you have to go to dialysis three times a week, we can set that up for you so you aren't always constantly calling us to book a trip. Yeah, I think that's kind of what booking looks like. The day of service, you are given a 30-minute pickup window. So what that means is when you book, say you want to travel at one o'clock to go to the mall. We might pick you up anytime between one o'clock and 1:30. And that 30-minute pickup window is fairly standard for the industry. And that's just because we come across challenges, challenges like snow, like traffic, unforeseen circumstances like They're just things that we can't predict, that we really do need about a half an hour to get to where we need to pick you up. From there, you might be on the vehicle for about as much time as you would be on, say, a bus or an LRT. We see an average of about half an hour. And then you get to your destination, and hopefully, that's the day, right? We take you home. And then if there are any concerns about the service on the day, we do have a really strong community relations team that takes those calls, takes those concerns, commendations, all of that. So yeah, that's what that, that's sort of a day in the life of a DATS user. Yeah.

Teresa M, VAD Society

If someone is listening today and thinking, this could really help me or someone I support, and I would refer a client to DATS, how does someone get in touch with you or get started?

Jason McGee, DATs

Yeah, great question. So our phone number is 780-496-4567. And we would refer them to our eligibility and registration team, which is option three. We have a bunch of different options there. Option 3, they would take that first call, get a bit of understanding of what the individual applicant's needs are, what their familiarity is with transit in general, and go from there. They can also e-mail us at, it's super easy. It's just dats@edmonton.ca. And that's monitored usually only Monday to Friday, but sometimes you might get somebody on the weekend who can assist as well. But yeah, the best course of action is to just give us a call. We really like that talking over the phone, talking about the service. We provide translation services in our call center. So if there's a language barrier, maybe they're new to the country, new to English, we rely on that as well. So sometimes we have an interpreter on the call to really help people because I got to be honest, paratransit is a complicated system and the eligibility and registration process can be very complicated. So we want to make sure that we're removing those barriers as much as possible.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Before we wrap up, what's an interesting or lesser known fact about DATS you think everyone should know?

Jason McGee, DATs

Yeah, we just turned 50. I want to say we had our 50th anniversary open house almost a year ago, but we're still kind of in that year of being 50 years old. And the service has so much in those 50 years. It used to be kind of an independent service and then The city of Edmonton kind of brought it under its Edmonton transit umbrella. This was all before I was born. But it's it's it's really great to see that as a city and a city that is a winter city. We embraced this long ago that that people we saw a need that people needed to access their community. And 50 years ago. or for the last 50 years, we've been providing that service. And I think that's so important. There's history here. Our garage, we're located in sort of south central Edmonton, is called Percy Wickman Garage. And Percy Wickman was an advocate. He himself was a paraplegic, but he was an MLA. Like he has had such an incredible influence on making sure DATS was doing the right thing. And so of course we named named the garage after him. It's just so great to work for an organization that has a history and a dedication to what we do. So often I talk to our clients who may be new to their disability or may be new to the city, who didn't know that this was a service that ever existed and are shocked to hear that we've been around for so long.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Awesome. Well, thank you for your time and energy today, Jason.

Jason McGee, DATs

Thank you too, Teresa. It's so great to, like I said at the beginning, to have this podcast as a resource for everybody. I hope people who are interested are able to reach out to us here in the Edmonton area if they have any more questions. Yeah.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Perfect. So your support of the community is of value to everyone. Is there anything else you want to say today that I haven't asked you?

Jason McGee, DATs

No, I think, well, let's just say that I hope this is sort of the start of the conversation and yeah, that we hear back from people and if anybody has any questions to reach out.

Teresa M, VAD Society

Thank you again for joining VAD's podcast. Voice of Albertans with Disabilities is a cross-disability non-profit organization of and for people with disabilities. We are guided by the principles of accessibility, equity, and inclusion. Learn about our services on our website at vadsociety.ca or call 780-488-9088 for more information. If you have a topic you would like to hear more about in the podcast, please e-mail myself at vad@vadsociety.ca with topic ideas, speaker suggestions, or your feedback. Signing off for the day. Together we hold the power.