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TRAVEL WITHIN NIAGARA
Car Rentals
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Car Rentals will put hand controls in any car or van. They will also pick
you up.
Go to www.enterprise.com for more
information or call 1-800-rent-a-car in the U.S.A. or Canada to rent a
car or van with hand controls.
Enterprise has five branches in Niagara. The one in Fort Erie in nearest
the Buffalo Airport.
Enterprise branches:
St. Catharines - 406 Ontario St. - Tel: 905-685-1500
Niagara Falls - 5590 Stanley Ave. - Tel: 905-357-5777
Welland - 871 Niagara St., Unit 6 - Tel: 905-735-5300
Grimsby - 569 Main St.- Tel: 905 - Tel: 643-8889
Fort Erie - 974 Garrison Rd. - Tel: 905-994-9400
Taxis
Elite Taxi
(905)356-9990 or toll-free 1-866-309-TAXI
Elite Taxi in Niagara Falls has two rear loading accessible Ford Winstar
vans. Each will take two wheelchairs and one person plus driver or one scooter
or one wheelchair plus four people. In town, travel is charged by meter
and according to the company spokesperson, “The meter doesn’t
begin until everyone is loaded and the taxi is rolling.” Out of town
sample fares are: Toronto Airport to Niagara Falls, $135 one way; Buffalo
Airport to Niagara Falls, $70 and Niagara Falls to Pen Centre in St. Catharines
for shopping, $22. All charges are in Canadian funds. The taxi company also
has a registered personal support worker who can be hired to travel with
a person for $10 an hour. Booking a ride ahead is advised but not always
necessary. Booking the support worker ahead is a must. 4/21/04
Niagara Falls Taxi
(905)357-4000 or toll free 1-800-363-4900
Niagara Falls Taxi has a wheelchair accessible van and they charge by
the meter to get you from your hotel to the casino so it would cost very
little. From Niagara Falls to the Buffalo Airport one way is $73.50 and
from Niagara Falls to the Toronto Airport is $135. one way. All charge are
in Canadian funds. As the accessible van is in demand, order as much ahead
of time as possible so you won’t have to wait. 17/07/03
5-0 Taxi
(905)685-5464 or Toll Free 1-800-268-7429
5-0 Taxi has wheelchair accessible cabs - you have to order them ahead
of time and to avoid disappointment, make sure you call a day or two ahead,
if possible. During the winter months it should be easier to get one but
remember they also serve the community. Five-0 serves all of Niagara including
Niagara Falls. A sample fare from Pearson Airport in Toronto to Niagara
Falls would be $125 - $150 and from the Buffalo Airport to Niagara Falls
$100 - $125 Cdn funds. It would cost about $20 Cdn funds to take an accessible
cab from a hotel in Niagara Falls to Casino Niagara. It would cost about
$30 Cdn to take a cab from a hotel in St. Catharines to Niagara Falls.
They also have cabs that will hold a fold-up wheelchair in the trunk,
so make sure you tell them if you expect to stay in the chair, transfer
to the front or don't need a ramped vehicle. 3/07/035
Tours
Gray Line Tours
1-800-365-3609
Fax: (716)692-4398
www.graylineniagarafalls.com
Gray Line offers tours throughout the Niagara Falls tourist area summer
and winter. They can accommodate two wheelchairs on each of their buses.
In winter months it is advisable to call ahead but in the peak tourist months
a person can reserve a spot by buying a ticket at one of the six Gray Line
kiosks in Niagara Falls or ask the concierge at their hotel how to arrange
a tour. They may also call the Gray Line office using the 1-800 number above
and arrange a tour. They should mention that they use a wheelchair and if
they use a large scooter Gray Line may want the person to transfer to a
wheelchair for the tour.
In spring and summer the tours take the person by more than 35 places of
interest and they'll stop at seven or eight including a boat trip on the
Maid of the Mist. In the winter they drive by the same places but the Butterfly
Conservatory is visited in place of the Maid of the Mist.
Handitravel
282 Vansickle Rd.
St. Catharines, ON L2S 2T1
(905)685-9558 or 1-877-GOHANDI
Proprietor: Norman Kreger
www.handitravel.org
e-mail: norman@handitravel.org
Whether you are looking for someone to escort you around Niagara or to
arrange an extended stay in Niagara, Norman Kreger can likely accommodate
your needs. Working with Nigel Riddell of AGM Travel, your trip to Niagara
and an accessible hotel plus day trips can be arranged beginning from
your home base. Norm also has education in recreational needs, personal
care, social services and working experience with both physically and
cognitively impaired clientele.
Raham's Transportation
Proprietor: Lisa Raham
(905)682-9115
lraham@cogeco.ca
An enterprising local woman has taken the job of personal assistant
one step further. Lisa Raham has a fairly new GM Montana with a side loading
ramp and space for a wheelchair in the front passenger side. She can take
one other not disabled person in the van as well under her present insurance
coverage. She uses the van to help others and has launched a new business,
Raham’s Transportation. She’ll take someone who uses a wheelchair
shopping, out of town for a drive, to or from the airport or to visit
someone, to an appointment, anywhere you like and provide additional help
if needed. She’ll also help you with shopping, bookkeeping and banking...
a true personal assistant ...with wheels. If you are coming into Niagara
on your own and would like someone to pick you up and show you around
in their van, Lisa can do it. She charges by the hour and you can contact
her to discuss your needs and negotiate charges. If money is no object
and you like personalized one-on-one service, what Lisa has to offer might
be just what you're looking for.
EMERGENCY HEALTH-CARE
Falls Urgent Care Clinic
6150 Valley Way
Valley Way at Drummond just off Highway 420
Niagara Falls, ON (905)371-1881
Hours - Monday - Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed only Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.
Open seven days a week with a doctor always present. Operated by Drs.
Arjat Singh and Judy Singh with Dr. D. Grant there on the weekends. If
a person is from out of town and not covered by Ontario Health Insurance
Plan (OHIP) the fee is $50 U.S. or $75 Canadian cash or traveler's cheque.
Prescriptions are also filled at the patient's expense.
Walk-in Clinics
Niagara Falls After Hours Walk-In Medical Clinic
6838 Morrison St., near the Zellers Plaza
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Wednesdays 1 - 9 p.m.
Weekends 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Due to number of registrations doctors may stop registering patients earlier
than hours listed.
Medical Walk-In Clinic
532 Lake Street (at Linwell)
St. Catharines, ON
Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Weekends 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Operated by Drs. Robert Fallis and R. Fraser MacKay
Emergency Departments at local hospitals
Greater Niagara General Hospital - (905)358-0171 - 5546 Portage Road,
Niagara Falls, ON
St. Catharines General Hospital - (905)684-7271 Ext. 5000 - 142 Queenston
St., St. Catharines - open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
MONEY EXCHANGE AND TOURISM INFORMATION
Ontario Travel Centre (905)358-3221
corner of Stanley Avenue and the QEW
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week all year round
There is parking for vans driven by people with disabilities, automatic
doors and a round table in the middle of the travel exchange for people
using mobility devices to use as the counters are high.
PRESCRIPTIONS FILLED - late night drug stores
Niagara Falls - Shoppers Drug Mart - (905)354-3845
- 6240 Lundy's Lane; Hours: 9 a.m. to midnight Monday - Saturday; 10 a.m.
to midnight Sundays and holidays; Christmas Eve 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed
Christmas Day.
St. Catharines - Shoppers Drug Mart - (905)641-2244 - Ridley
Square, 111 Fourth Ave., Hours 9 a.m. until midnight - seven days a week
Major holidays - open but call as hours vary - closed only on Christmas
Day.
GLASSES REPAIRED
Niagara Falls - Precision Optical - Niagara
Square, (905)356-5955
hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. Closed Sundays.
St. Catharines - Precision Optical - 38 James Street, (905)684-2342
Lenscrafters - Pen Centre, (905)682-8000 hours: Monday to
Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m to 5 p.m.
EQUIPMENT RENTALS AND REPAIRS
Lewis and Krall Home Health Care
325 Thorold Road West,
Welland, ON, at the corner of Thorold Road and Prince Charles Drive in
the Food Basics Plaza
(905)732-4456/ toll free 1-800-563-6482
www.lewisandkrall.com
To rent a scooter or manual wheelchair use the 1-800 number if you live
outside of the 905 area code and use ext. 222. Ask for Rosa or Pierrette
in rentals. To rent an electric scooter call ahead to book for your trip.
You'll be asked to leave a credit card number. The scooter will be held
for you and guaranteed. If you have to cancel and you do it prior to one
week before the scooter was to be delivered to your hotel or picked up,
no charges will be made. If you do not cancel it, your credit card will
be charged as if you had rented it. The cost to rent a scooter is $95.24
CD for a day or a week and $253.59 a month and they deliver to wherever you are staying and
pick up. To rent a manual wheelchair the cost is $25.24 CD for a day or a week or $63.11 a month. A transort wheelchair- the type with the small wheels - is $19.51 a week. Tell them if you need a 16" or 18" wide seat in the chair. A Hoyer lift to lift person out of bed, off a toilet and into a wheelchair is $32.13 a week or $221.46 a month and Hoyer sling
is $12.63 a week or $32.13 a month. People have their own slings but might not travel with the actual lift. If you need to rent an electric scooter, this is a good, reliable place
to get one. Just make sure you cancel a week before you would have arrived
if you need to cancel and all will be well.
I'm told a couple of hotels in Niagara have also purchased their own scooters.
Ask when you book your room.
Lewis and Krall will sell, rent and/or repair just about anything a person
with a disability would need or could conceivably leave at home. They
are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every night except Saturdays and Sundays.
After regular store hours there is an emergency number on that number
to allow people to access their 24 hour emergency repair service.
Bathroom equipment: bedside commodes, wheeled commodes, wheeled
shower commode, Versamodes commode with handles and splash guard- fits
over toilet and has adjustable legs for height, Versaframe has to be screwed onto back of toilet - can be used
with elevator seat to make a higher toilet seat, raised toilet seats, bath boards, bath seats,
over the side bars for tub, raised toilet seat with arms, 2, 4 and 5.5
inch raised toilet seats and tub transfer benches padded and unpadded.
Bedroom equipment: over bed tables, transfer boards, transfer poles, Hoyer lifts and slings, trapeze
to pull up on, hospital beds, Arco rails attaches to steel frame bed,
Stuben rail slides under mattress, gel mattresses for beds, air mattresses
Mobility needs: Walkers - all kinds - Rolatosr with swivel and fixed
seats and aluminum ones
Electric scooters/ charger rentals, batteries
Manual wheelchairs
Sell and repair electric wheelchairs but does not rent them
Transport chairs used to push someone who cannot self propel
Seating - gel pads for wheelchairs, Roho cushions, mattresses and leveler
pads, etc
Ramps for homes; folding 6, 8,10 and 12 foot and 5ft aluminum fibreglas
one piece amp board, canes, crutches, quad canes, ceiling lifts for homes.
Miscellaneous: nebulizer, muscle stimulators, TENS machines, Accupressure
TENS, Kangaroo and Jobst feeding tubes and pumps
Prescriptions filled and delivered - 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday;
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
If an emergency for repairs call store and message gives emergency number
to call 24 hours for on call emergency personnel.
BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIRS AND SCOOTERS
Lewis and Krall sell wheelchair and scooter batteries (see above).
They will deliver and install.
Any Canadian Tire store (accessible parking
and in most stores flat entrance with automatic doors) usually has dry-gel
batteries charged and available for sale and they will install them in
your wheelchair or electric scooter right there in the store. There are
usually at least two Canadian Tire stores in larger cities and one near
smaller ones. Check the Yellow Pages of the telephone book under Hardware
for the store nearest you. It doesn't hurt to call ahead to make sure
they have what you need in stock. If not, it is an easy matter to call
the next nearest town.
Lewis and Krall also sell wheelchair and scooter batteries.
REPAIR OF HAND-CONTROLS FOR DRIVING, VAN LIFTS, VAN RAMPS, ETC.
Northend Mobility - (accessible parking, office
entrance flat)
301 Aqueduct St., Welland, ON
Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(905)735-5552
www.northend-mobility.com
run by Willy MacLeod, who is himself a quadriplegic, Northend Mobility
can repair vans, van lifts, van ramps, special seats, hand controls, wheelchair
and scooter lifts, Entervans and anything to do with adaptive driving
aids.
Major credit cards accepted from out of town visitors.
RENTAL OF VANS WITH HAND CONTROLS - See travel (first item)
Enterprise 1-800-rent-a-car - Give them 48
hours and they can have a car or van for you with hand controls on it.
1-800-736-8222 for the office nearest you and to reserve a van. There
are offices in Niagara Falls - 5590 Stanley Ave., (905)357-5777, in St.
Catharines at 406 Ontario Street (905)685-1500 and in Welland at 871 Niagara
Street, Unit 6, (905)735-5300
BROKEN ORTHOTICS OR PROSTHETICS - (braces or artificial limbs)
Niagara Orthotics and Prosthetics (905)688-2553
If you break an orthotic or prosthetic, Niagara Orthotics and Prosthetics
is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. They have
two orthotists and two prosthetists on staff. In case of an after hours
emergency call the regular number and leave a message. The phone will
be checked periodically for emergency calls.
Located at 547 Glenridge Ave., St. Catharines, ON.
VISA, Mastercard and Interac accepted from out of town clients
OXYGEN SUPPLIES - the person on oxygen MUST have a prescription
from their doctor in order to purchase or rent oxygen supplies.
In Niagara Falls - Medigas (905)374-7919 or 1-866-446-6302
Located at 4632 Victoria Ave., Niagara Falls, ON
In St. Catharines - Vitalaire - 100A- 145 Queenston St.,
(905)641-8141 or 1-800- 567-0202
Both of these companies will deliver anywhere in the Niagara Peninsula
VETERINARIAN CARE FOR SPECIAL SKILLS ANIMALS (or any animal traveling
with you)
In Niagara Falls - Morgan's Animal Hospital
- Daytime - (905)354-5646 (will be accessible by the end of December 2002.)
Monday - Friday 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays 9 a.m.
till noon
Located at 6251 O'Neil St., in Niagara Falls beside the Stamford Green
Plaza
VISA, Mastercard and Interac accepted from out-of-town clients.
In St. Catharines - Huntington Animal Hospital
- Daytime - (905)684-4007 (accessible parking and curb cut in front of
bank and/or walk-in clinic to the right.
Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays 8 a.m. till noon.
211 Martindale Road in St. Catharines just off the Martindale cutoff from
the QEW; go south
until you come to Huntington Plaza
VISA, Mastercard and Interac accepted from out-of-town clients
AFTER HOURS AND EMERGENCY VETERINARIAN CARE
Niagara Veterinarian Emergency Care Clinic
(905)641-3185 - accessible parking and curb cut
Monday through Thursday 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Fridays 6 p.m. until 8 a.m. Monday (they are open the entire weekend)
Open 24 hours on holidays
The clinic is at 2-F Tremont Dr. next to the Burger King Restaurant on
Tremont Dr., off Glendale Ave. It is directly off the 406 Highway in St.
Catharines. The veterinarian clinics in Niagara are affiliated with this
emergency clinic and it is open to provide clients of all of the clinics
with expert emergency care during off hours.
Dogs and cats treated only but any animal humanely euthanized.
VISA, Mastercard or Interac and cash are accepted from out-of-town clients.
This list is prepared by Linda Crabtree at Accessible Niagara. Everything
possible was done to make this list accurate but we cannot be held responsible
for information that might have changed. Please call ahead if you want
to make sure everything is still in operation and accessible as it was
when this list was prepared Oct. 2002. It is added to regularly as services
are found.
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