May 5, 2025
The City is proud to celebrate 50 years of Dedicated Accessible Transit Service (DATS), its paratransit service. The door-to-door, shared public transportation service provides access for riders who cannot use conventional transit due to a physical or cognitive disability. |
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To commemorate this achievement, Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) held an open house event at Percy Wickman Garage, which is the City’s main DATS facility. DATS riders were invited to celebrate alongside staff, tour the garage and explore various types of ETS vehicles.
“This is an important milestone,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “DATS is capable of changing people’s lives by providing them access and connections to events, appointments and other opportunities they may not otherwise be able to get to. Seeing how the service has grown over the last 50 years has further strengthened my belief in the service’s tremendous value, and how collaboration is vital to its continued growth.”
DATS began as a two-year pilot in 1975, providing paratransit service to Edmontonians who could not access conventional transit service. In 2024, with help from over 260 City and contracted vehicle operators, DATS provided over 930,000 trips.
“For services like ours, it truly takes a village,” says Paul Schmold, Manager, Paratransit, ETS. “We are so grateful to our internal and contractor staff, local partners and our riders, past and present, who have helped build DATS into the service it is today.”
At the open house, attendees connected with local community groups who have a long-standing relationship with DATS, including Chrysalis Society, DATS Advisory Group, Dogs with Wings, Elves Special Needs Society, Excel Society, Mira Facilitation Center, Nina Hagerty Centre for the Arts, Special Olympics, Voice of Albertans with Disabilities and Winnifred Steward Association.
A new plaque marking the milestone is now proudly displayed at the front door of the garage. The garage’s namesake, Percy Wickman, was a disability advocate who had a 25-year political career as an MLA and Edmonton City Councillor. His contributions were crucial to the creation of DATS and he successfully championed wheelchair accessibility on the LRT. |
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