A Perfect Storm Of Inconvenient Circumstances

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I had a rather interesting thing happen on the bus today, and it started to make me wonder exactly who takes priority in such situations. First, let me tell you a bit about myself. I am legally blind (I am very near-sighted). I have physicl challenges that impede some of my mobility. I also have EXTREMELY sensitive hearing. My physical challenges don't allow me to walk far, so I need to find places that are located near bus stops. My nearsightedness means that I have very little time between locating a landmark near a bus stop, and pulling the cord to get off the bus. It also means I can't see street signs. I may know that something is on Clair Road for example, but when the bus calls "Gordon and Clair" I have no way of knowing how close I am to the place in question. Finally, my sensitive hearing makes it so I can not tolerate a lot of noise, and this causes me to need headphones, making it hard for me to hear the called stops Even if I wasn't wearing my headphones, the noise on the bus and the fact that I can't read those damn signs means the called stops mean nothing to me. For this reason, I sit in one of the front "courtesy seats" so that I can see out the front window, and respon when I see my landmark, and not miss my stop -- So here is what happened todaay. I got on the bus to go to Starbucks. I have not been to this location many times, so I've not yet perfected my landmarks. Since I'd gotten a front seat, this was not going to be a problem for me. As soon as we get to the Shoppers Drug Mart, I'd simply pull the cord, and be done with it. Not so fast....! --- Our courtesy seats fold up in order to accomodate strollers, and wheelchairs. Fair enough, eh? Trouble is, when there is more than one chair or stroller on the bus, it gets complicated. There was a stroller across from me. nd then a few minutes in, I was asked to move for a wheelchair. Trouble is. if I moved further back, I would NOT be able to see my stop! I asked the driver to please stop at the stop near Scotiabank, and right after Shoppers Drug Mart. This is a legitimate stop, so I was not asking for anything out of the ordinary. He tried to tell me that all I had to do was listen for the stops, and I tried explaining in as few words as possible, what I just stated above. Those are not going to do anything or me. A hoard of helpful people try giving me directions and telling me when to get off, in advance. Unless someone says "we're coming up to Shoppers" when we're actually coming up there, advanced directions aren't going to do a thing for me!!!!! As for the bus driver, he claimed this was his first ride on the route, and he didn't know where the Shoppers was either. You don't have to know where the heck it is, just stop at the next stop after it. When I see the bus is stopped, I will look out the window, see the Scotibank (it's not whizzing by me so I'll be able to see it), and simply GET OFF!!!!! Not hard, right? The lady in the wheelchair felt kinda bad, but I reassured her IT WAS NOT HER PROBLEM!!!!! Not her problem she's in a wheelchair, not my problem I'm legally blind, but it's all of our problems when the driver doesn't even know where a simple stop is. -- What do you think should be done about seating for challenged folks on buses. when supply does not meat demand?