In our view: Resolution is still possible before hearing starts
What’s the best way for a blind person to use public transit?
According to the website of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), a blind person should tell the bus driver in advance of which stop is required. The person should also sit at the front of the bus so the driver can holler out when that stop is reached.
According to an Ontario human rights tribunal, the Toronto Transit Commission must announce every bus and streetcar stop. This could be done by the driver, or by using an automated system to announce stops.
At the time, when asked to respond to the Ontario decision, Fredericton deputy mayor Norah Davidson-Wright said such a system isn’t needed in the city. She said people must pass the driver to get on the bus, and drivers are courteous to the needs of people with disabilities.
“As far as I know, we’ve had no complaints about the service for the visually impaired,” she said last August. “I can’t see us jumping to bring about changes unless there was a demonstrated need for it.”
It seems that need has come.
A University of New Brunswick law student raised the question this week in his complaint to the province’s human rights commission.
Everett Zufelt, who relies on a guide dog to get around the city, said he should be able to use Fredericton Transit’s Dial-a-Bus service for people with disabilities.
He said such a service would be useful for when he had to make a non-routine trip to an unfamiliar area.
But Fredericton Transit told him he can’t use the service because it’s only for people with disabilities, and it doesn’t consider blindness to be a mobility disability.
“We’re comfortable with the way we enforce it,” said transit manager Sandy MacNeill. “It is exclusionary to a number of people, but you have to cut it off somewhere.”
He said people who are old or in financial need also don’t qualify for Dial-a-Bus.
However, Zufelt said if it’s dangerous to travel using a cane or a dog, or unreasonably difficult or not feasible to invest the hours needed to learn a new route for a location that may only be visited infrequently or once, then the blind should have access to the Dial-a-Bus service.
In reaction to our first story on the issue, a CNIB official said Dial-a-Bus should be made available if blind people need it.
“CNIB’s position is that any kind of public transportation needs to be accessible to the people we serve,” said Duncan Williams, director of services and operations manager of CNIB for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
According to the city’s website, Dial-a-Bus is only available to mobility impaired residents. They must register before using the service.
It’s impossible to tell at this point if Zufelt’s human rights complaint will change that policy for blind people.
We do know that Dial-a-Bus is a limited service run on a limited budget. Lines have to be drawn and policies adhered to.
We wonder if Fredericton Transit can do more to help blind people on regular transit routes, such as more closely following guidelines from CNIB’s website.
We think there’s room for a resolution before the human rights complaint is heard July 12.
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