Transit services asked to announce each stop

The Ontario Human Rights Commission is calling on transit services across the province to improve accessibility by announcing every stop for passengers.

Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall says the simple act of announcing each stop would make a great deal of difference for all riders, especially the visually impaired.

Hall's appeal follows a recent decision by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario that ruled the Toronto Transit Commission was violating the rights of riders by not announcing every stop on buses and streetcars.

The tribunal made a similar ruling in 2005 over complaints about a lack of announcements in the city's subway system.

The complaints were launched by lawyer David Lepofsky, the founding president of the Canadian Association for Visually Impaired Lawyers.

Hall has also complained to the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario that current standards require only new transit vehicles to be outfitted for accessibility, while older vehicles are exempt.