By Brendan Ross
A proposed city bylaw may result in OC Transpo passengers who choose not to give up their priority seats to the elderly or disabled having to face more than disgusted looks from those around them – they might get fined, too.
According to Kathy Riley, OC Transpo’s specialist in accessible transit and a member of the team writing the bylaw, the law would force any able-bodied passenger in priority seating to give up their seat to a disabled person.
“The bus operator will be in the position to ask for compliance. If the customer does not surrender the seat, security would be called and they would then have the authority to charge the offender,” Riley said.
Although the bylaw is still in development at OC Transpo and has not yet been sent to city hall, Riley says she is optimistic it will be implemented in early 2007.
Currently, there are no standardized repercussions for people who refuse to give up their priority seats, and how to deal with the situation is up to the operator.
While it may strike some as harsh, Riley says she believes the bylaw will be beneficial in the end, citing that she receives an average of 10 formal complaints each month concerning refusals to vacate priority seats.
The bylaw is merely one of many steps that OC Transpo is taking to ensure complete accessibility for all of its passengers.
Other new services include bus “hailing kits” that assist disabled persons in catching the right bus, accessibility training sessions for OC Transpo employees and, most recently, awareness campaigns promoting priority seating on the buses and in public schools.
The awareness campaigns are designed to go hand in hand with the new bylaw, according to Riley.
“I hope that if we promote priority seating to the public we can reduce the amount of times that the operators will have to get involved.”
Regular bus riders may have already noticed the posters featuring children’s art that adorn various buses in the city. Riley came up with the idea as a positive way of promoting tolerance for disabled passengers.
“Art seems to be a benign way of getting people to take notice, and maybe even think about the message,” said Riley.
The art is part of a larger campaign that involves visiting elementary and high schools to talk to students about issues with accessible transit.
“I find that students are open and not afraid to discuss the real issue and solutions,” said Riely. “The Grade five class was amazing and I think that this next campaign with older high school students will be just as exciting.”