Ottawa committee votes down $8M system to call out bus stops

Dealing with a blind passenger's complaint that Ottawa bus drivers don't call out stops on their routesdoesn't warrant an$8-million solution, the city's transit committee has decided.

On Wednesday, the committee members voted downa proposal from OC Transpo, the city's public transit company, foran expensivecomputerized system that would automatically call out stops.

OC Transpo's transit operations handbook says drivers are "expected" to announce major and requested stops, butcompany head Alain Mercier argued the only way to ensurethat happensall the time is tomake amachinedo the job.

"We are looking for the consistency of a 100 per cent compliance," he said.

Itmay be possible to create a cheaperautomated system using existing equipment, but further testing is needed to find out, Mercier told CBC Radio earlier.

"So $8 million is sort of our worst-case option, where we would have to put in a new P.A. system."

'It's quite obvious we were wrong from Day 1and we should have taken corrective action.' —Coun. Rainer Bloess, Ottawa transit committee member

The proposal was in response to a Canadian Transportation Agency ruling April 25 that not calling out stops is an "undue obstacle" to the mobility of passengers such as Terrance Green, a blind man who complained to the agency in November.

The agency also found OC Transpo failed to apply its own policies about calling out major stops or stops requested by a passenger.

The city must respond to the agency by July 25 and explain how it will comply with the ruling.

Coun. Georges Bédard, a committee member,wanted to know whether that meant the city must make changes right away.

"Can we advise them that we are doing this next year? Can we advise them that we've told our chauffeurs to call these things out? Will that satisfy them?" he asked.

In the end, councillors decided against the $8-million system. They may reconsider it at budget time next year.

The transportation agency could still force the city to ensure that stops are called out.

Councillor questions why drivers can't call out stops

Before the meeting, Coun. Rainer Bloess, who's also on thecommittee, said he and his colleagues planned to ask OC Transpo why drivers can't call out stops and why the solution would cost so much.

"My first question about cost is how much we spent to defend ourselves in front of the Canadian Transportation Agency," he added. "This is a no brainer … and it's quite obvious we were wrong fromDay 1and we should have taken corrective action."

Bus drivers argue that the ergonomics of microphones sometimes make them unsafe, they are busy with many other tasks such as watching the doors and helping passengers with special needs, and passengers sometimes find the stop calls disruptive, says a staff report accompanying the proposal.

Incidents isolated: OC Transpo

Greencomplained tothe transportation agency after a bus driver failed to call out stops he requested on two different bus routes on Nov. 16 and Nov.23.

OC Transpo argued the agency did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the matter and that the two incidents were isolated.

The agency disagreed with both arguments,recommending that the company:

• State clearly in its operator handbook that major and requested stops must always be called out.
• Have inspectors monitor compliance with the policy.
• Incorporate into its training program a situation similar to the one involving Green.
• Require that driversuse a public announcement system to announce stops, andensure that a GPS system that announces stops is always on and working correctly, if such systems are available.

In 2005, an OC Transpo survey found 34 per cent of passengers surveyed heard announcements of stops "often or sometimes" by the driver, downsix per cent sinceover 1995.