Adapted transportation has long been a source of frustration for people with limited mobility which is why many wheelchair users who prefer to take regular buses and the metro, whenever they can.

However getting around remains challenging, as Daniel Dessureault recently learned when he attempted to get to Ile Ste. Helene.

Dessureault has Lou Gehrig's disease and his health has declined considerably in the last decade. Unable to walk and only able to talk with extreme difficulty, one of his pleasures involves going on long outdoor trips in his wheelchair and taking photographs.

Dessureault normally rides public transport but hit a snag last Sunday when he tried to board the 769 bus heading off-island.

"The driver told me his bus wasn't on the STM's list of bus lines where wheelchairs are accepted, and refused to let me board it," he said. Dessureault had no choice but to return home.

About two-thirds of STM bus lines accept wheelchairs but the one going to Ile Ste. Helene is not one of them.

Dessureault, who prefers to use regular bus lines, cannot understand why some lines are okay for wheelchairs and others are not, so he has filed a complaint with the STM.

The transit agency will not comment on that specific complaint because it is still under investigation, however it is defending its efforts to make its network more accessible to people with disabilities.

Since 1998, new buses all feature easy access to wheelchairs. Seven metro stations now have elevators for passengers with disabilities, and more are expected to be retrofitted in the coming years.

However activist Laurence Parent says Dessureault's predicament is fairly common.

"I'm not surprised at all about it because I experience it myself every day," said Parent.

"I feel like many bus drivers just don't understand why many people with disabilities want to use public transit."

People with disabilities do have access to special transportation buses but there is a catch: users must reserve in advance and have to provide a strict itinerary including an address.

That lack of an address is the reason Desserault could not use the special service to get to Ile Ste. Helene.

He is still waiting for the STM to address his complaint, but for now, he's forced to accept that short of additional adapted bus lines, he will remain dependent on the agency's travel policies.