OC Transpo bus fleet becomes fully accessible

OC Transpo boasts it now has North America's first fully accessible bus fleet, after officially retiring the last of its remaining high-floor buses.

Catherine Gardner, chair of the city's accessibility advisory committee, said getting rid of the high-floor buses is good news for people in the city's outlying areas.

"It's also going to open up the doors to people in various areas of the city," she said. "We have people out in the rural areas who were not able to come in because they didn't qualify for Para Transpo, and the buses going out there were high-floor buses."

Para Transpo is a door-to-door transportation service for people with disabilities who are unable to use conventional transit services.

All of the approximately 1,000 OC Transpo's buses are now equipped with ramps to allow those with limited mobility to board — they can lower to accommodate seniors, those with disabilities, or those travelling with strollers or shopping carts. They are also equipped with automated systems that call out stops.

The transit service now has five models of buses with better fuel efficiency and emission standards, after doing away with its final 89 high-floor buses and 20 buses of another model.

Maintenance and service of the remaining vehicles is expected to become easier with the reduced number of bus models.