Report to/Rapport au:

 

Transit Committee

Comité du transport en commun

 

and Council/et au Conseil

 

21 June 2007/le 21 juin 2007

 

Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers/Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale adjointe

Planning, Transit and the Environment/Urbanisme, Transport en commun et Environnement

 

Contact Person/Personne ressource : A. Mercier, Director/Directeur, Transit Services/Services du transport en commun

613-842-3636 ext. 2271, alain.mercier@ottawa.ca

 

City Wide

Ref N°: ACS2007-PTE-TRA-0011

 

 

SUBJECT:

RESPONSE TO THE CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION AGENCY (CTA) DECISION NO. 200AT-MV-2007

 

 

OBJET :

RÉPONSE À LA DÉCISION NO 200AT-MV-2007 DE L’OFFICE DES TRANSPORTS DU CANADA (OTC)

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That the Transit Committee recommend Council:

 

1.                  Approve the manner to achieve mandatory announcements of major stops in transit operations compliant under the Canadian Transportation Agency Decision No 200AT-MV-2007 through the installation of an automated system on board transit vehicles by 2010 on existing vehicles at a cost of approximately $8 million.;

 

2.                  Include a project to incorporate the fully automated stop announcement program in the Department's 2008 Capital budget submission.

 

 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité du transport en commun recommande au Conseil :

 

1.         d’approuver la manière de rendre conforme à la décision no 200AT-MV-2007 de l’Office des transports du Canada l’annonce obligatoire des principaux arrêts de transport en commun, grâce à l’installation de systèmes automatisés à bord des véhicules actuels de transport en commun, d’ici à 2010, au coût approximatif de 8 millions de dollars;

 

2.         d'inclure un projet visant à intégrer le programme d'annonce entièrement automatisée des arrêts dans la présentation du budget d'immobilisation de 2008 du Service.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

This report is in response to Councillor Bloess’ inquiry at the Transit Committee meeting of May 16, 2007 which requests a briefing on the recent Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) Ruling on Terrance J. Green versus City of Ottawa regarding whether OC Transpo operators failed to apply OC Transpo’s policies and procedures concerning calling out major stops and any other stop requested by a passenger.

 

As previously reported in a memo to Councillors on April 26, 2007, on November 23, 2006, Terrance Green, who is visually impaired, filed a complaint with the CTA against OC Transpo which alleged that operators failed to apply OC Transpo's policies and procedures regarding the calling out of major stops or other stops requested by passengers.  More specifically, Mr. Green alleged that the bus operators on Route 5 and Route 1 buses, on November 16, 2006 and November 23, 2006, forgot to call out the bus stop that Mr. Green requested to be called out.

 

OC Transpo argued that the CTA did not have jurisdiction to deal with this matter.  In the alternative, it was argued that, even if the bus operators forgot to call out these stops, this was an isolated incident, and it was insufficient to support a finding that the entire OC Transpo network was inaccessible.  In light of the March 23, 2007 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Council of Canadians with Disabilities v. Via Rail Canada Inc., in which the high court stated that the CTA should be governed by human rights' principles, the CTA determined that they did have jurisdiction to deal with this complaint.  The CTA accepted the evidence of Mr. Green, and found that the bus operators did not, in fact, call out the requested stops.  The CTA also rejected OC Transpo’s submission that these were isolated incidents, and relied upon the e-mails, letters, and testimonials submitted by Mr. Green to reach this conclusion.  Therefore, the CTA determined that OC Transpo operators failed to apply OC Transpo’s policies and procedures concerning the calling out of major stops or any other stop requested by passengers, and that these constituted an undue obstacle to Mr. Green’s mobility.

 

The CTA is providing OC Transpo with the opportunity, by way of a direction to show cause, to provide reasons why OC Transpo should not be required to implement the following corrective measures within ninety days from the date of any final decision by the Agency or to define a period of time necessary to comply with the ruling which is:

 

1.   To ensure the consistent application of its policy:

 

·        Modify its Transit Operation Handbook to clearly state that major and requested stops must always be called out;

·        Incorporate into its training program the situation that developed with respect to the difficulties experienced by Mr. Green, without naming him.  In particular, the training should emphasize that for passengers with a visual impairment, major stops and those requested must be called out; and,

·        Monitor compliance with OC Transpo’s policy of operators calling out major stops and those requested by passengers with visual impairments through the use of inspectors or other persons on board OC Transpo buses and follow-up on reports of infractions with the operators.

 

2.   To ensure that announcements are clearly heard:

 

·        Modify its policy to require that its operators consistently use, where available, a public address system to announce major and/or requested stops;

·        Ensure that its Global Positioning System (GPS) is always activated once installed on OC Transpo buses and that it correctly announces major stops, in combination with operator or GPS announcements of requested stops; and,

·        Modify its policy to specifically set out the alternative means to ensure that operator announcements are clearly heard by the person in cases where a public address system or GPS is not used.

 

The CTA will finalize its corrective measures upon receipt of a response from Transit Services.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

Recognizing that many of the above-noted matters already form part of OC Transpo’s policy and training practices, Transit Services management have reviewed the ruling from an operational perspective and advise the following:

 

1.   “To ensure the consistent application of its policy” (to call out stops):

 

Clear policies are in place although they do not provide for 100 percent compliance.  The Transit Operations Handbook states that Operators are “expected” to announce major and requested stops.  The last customer survey data from 2005 indicated that 34 percent of passengers hear announcements of stops “often or sometimes” by the bus operator.  This is a decline of approximately six percent points since 1995.  This reduction and low compliance is due to a range of issues such as ergonomics of microphones rendering use by some operators unsafe, reliability of the system, increased operator activities in articulated buses for surveillance/doors, assistance to special needs customers, management of priority seating and fare enforcement activities. Customers also report inconvenience and intrusiveness from operators calling stops on routine express services, rural routes and most school bus services.

 

In the case of specific requests by customers to announce a stop, whether or not the customer has a visual impairment, the policy will be strengthened, as recommended by the CTA decision, such that operators “must” respond to specific customer requests.  This practice is largely adhered to today and in cases where customers are not served; management has taken direct action to change behaviour.  The requirement to call out requested stops is an established part of OC Transpo’s operator training programs, and will be further emphasized in the future.  We are immediately reviewing our training program to ensure wording in the policy is strengthened.

 

To increase the compliance of announcements, the industry is moving rapidly towards a technology solution where the public address system is triggered by GPS location data to announce the next stop through a pre-recorded or synthesized voice.  The O-Train is already equipped with similar technology.

 

The GPS system as installed on OC Transpo buses does not announce stops, but provides the spatial data that would be required as input to an announcement package.

 

Clear policies that require GPS equipment to be on and activated are currently in place.  The implementation of an automated stop announcement technology requires a phased approach. First, GPS equipment must be installed to provide locational data on the balance of the fleet (over 80 percent of the fleet is now equipped).  Then, an announcement package (audible and visual) must be purchased, installed and linked to the GPS locational data through software development.

 

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act calls for standards that will require automatic announcements and visual presentation of next stop information on all transit vehicles over the next 18 years.  Although OC Transpo is subject to Federal regulation in its operation, we will be expected to comply with these new standards and would like to advise the CTA that the technology required to automatically announce stops will be phased in over three years, beginning in 2008. In the interim, we will maintain vigilance in fostering good customer service by announcing major stops where possible.

 

2.   “To ensure that announcements are clearly heard”:

 

Policies on the use of the PA system will be modified to reflect the planned implementation of automated announcements as outlined above.  We will ensure that Operators are provided with training and guidelines on when to use the PA system, and on strategies and techniques for being heard when the PA system or automated system are not available.  Research is also underway through Fleet Services for operator and bus components of an enhanced PA system, which will improve the systems’ reliability.  Pending 2008 budget availability, system-wide improvements are expected by the end of 2009.

 

Transit Services will respond to the CTA by July 25, 2007 in accordance with the ruling protocol as to its recommended course of action to comply with the findings.  The CTA will weigh the reasonableness of the response and rule to either accept the recommendations of the Transit Services or prescribe its own remedy through a binding order.  Transit Services believes the recommendations are reasonable given the compatibility with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act specifications now under review.

 

 

CONSULTATION/PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

 

No specific external consultation or public notification was made, however, the subject of improvements to “calling out stops” is a regular topic at Accessible and Seniors’ Advisory Committees.  It was also a topic at the Seniors’ Forum held last November and at the City’s public forum on accessibility on June 5th.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Costs to implement a fully automated stop announcement program are projected at $8 million over the period 2008-2010 for the existing fleet of 980 vehicles planned by year end. 

 

There are no sources of funding currently identified for this program.  Both the Provincial and Federal governments will be contacted to seek funding sources given the regulatory framework of the CTA and Ontario Disability Act provisions.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

N/A

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Upon approval by Council, Transit Services will respond to the CTA by July 25, 2007 of its compliance with the ruling and recommended implementation schedule for consideration by the Agency.