1. RESPONSE TO THE CANADIAN
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY (CTA) DECISION NO. 200AT-MV-2007 RÉPONSE À LA DÉCISION NO 200AT-MV-2007 DE L’OFFICE DES
TRANSPORTS DU CANADA (OTC)
|
Committee recommendationS AS AMENDED
That Council approve:
1. To
include a project to incorporate the fully automated stop announcement program
in the Department's 2008 Capital budget submission, and that the budget
submission include the status of the Transit GPS Project, the amount spent to
date and what needs to be spent to bring about the necessary results.
2. That Transit Services
Staff be directed to:
a)
implement interim measures in the nature of training, improved low-tech
solutions (e.g. headsets) communications and monitoring to achieve a high level
of compliance in calling out major and requested stops;
b)
improve compliance with procedures to recover from any errors that
occur in providing information to persons with disabilities on a specific stop;
c)
review and improve customer relations centre training requirements in
communicating with all customers, and particularly customers with disabilities.
d) amend staff training to
clarify that:
(i) policies regarding location announcements, specifically
requested and otherwise, is a serious matter as well as a matter of public
safety; and
(ii) disciplinary action can be expected if the policy is not
followed.
e) develop
a policy to have bus stops called out on all regular routes and for drop off
locations on express routes and implement a training program to ensure
compliance with this policy.
3. That
OC Transpo’s proposed response to the CTA’s suggested corrective measures be
communicated to all Member of the Transit Committee five working days in
advance of being submitted to the CTA.
RecommandationS
MODIFIÉES du Comité
Que
le Conseil approuve :
1. L’ajout d’un projet visant à
inclure le programme entièrement informatisé d’annonce des arrêts dans la
demande concernant le budget d’immobilisation du Service pour 2008, et
l’inclusion dans la demande budgétaire d’un état d’avancement du projet
d’implantation de systèmes GPS dans le réseau de transport en commun, indiquant
le montant dépensé jusqu’à maintenant et les sommes à engager pour obtenir les
résultats nécessaires.
2. Que
le personnel des Services de transport en commun reçoive instruction :
a)
De mettre en place des
mesures provisoires comme la formation, des solutions traditionnelles
améliorées (casques d’écoute, p. ex.), la communication et la surveillance afin
d’obtenir un taux élevé d’annonce des arrêts importants et des arrêts demandés;
b)
D’améliorer le taux de
conformité aux procédures visant à corriger les erreurs qui se produisent dans
la communication d’information sur un arrêt particulier aux personnes ayant une
incapacité;
c)
D’examiner et d’accroître
les critères de formation du centre des relations avec la clientèle pour ce qui
concerne les communications avec l’ensemble de la clientèle et notamment avec
les clients ayant une incapacité.
d) de modifier la formation
du personnel de façon à préciser :
(i) que les politiques concernant l’annonce
des arrêts, notamment les arrêts demandés, constituent une question sérieuse
ainsi qu’une question de sécurité publique;
(ii) qu’il faut s’attendre à des mesures
disciplinaires si la politique n’est pas respectée.
e) d’élaborer une politique
prévoyant l’annonce des arrêts sur tous les circuits réguliers ainsi que
l’annonce des points de débarquement sur les circuits express, et de mettre en
œuvre un programme de formation visant à assurer le respect de cette politique.
3. Que la réponse proposée
d’OC Transpo aux mesures correctives suggérées par l’Office des transports du
Canada (OTC) soit communiquée aux membres du Comité du transport en commun cinq
jours ouvrables avant qu’elle ne soit soumise à l’OTC.
DOCUMENTATION
1. Planning, Transit and the Environment Deputy City Manager's report dated
21 June 2007 (ACS2007-PTE-TRA-0011).
2. Extract of Draft Minutes 11,
Transit Committee meeting of 4 July 2007 (To be distributed separately
prior to Council).
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
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) |
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; and
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; et
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.
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.
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.