The first review of the AODA’s Transportation Standards became public in 2018. In this review, the AODA Transportation Standards Development Committee recommends changes to the existing Transportation Standards. In addition, the Committee also recommends action from other sectors of the province, to remove accessibility barriers that impact transportation. This article will discuss the Committee’s recommendations for coordinating specialized transit between cities.
Coordinating Specialized Transit Between Cities
The current Transportation Standards require specialized transit companies in neighbouring cities to coordinate services. For example, a person should be able to travel on specialized transit to a location in the city next to their own. This trip might involve transferring from a bus operated by one city’s transit company to another bus in the neighbouring city. Alternatively, cities could agree that buses picking up a passenger in one city could drop them off at locations in the neighbouring city. In either case, the transit companies in both cities must work together to help the passenger transfer between cities.
However, the Committee reports that cities find this coordination difficult to achieve. Since each city must develop its own policy for coordination, different rules in the policies may conflict . On the other hand, standardizing policies across the province would also be difficult. Larger cities would need different policies than smaller cities. As a result, each region must continue to develop its own policy for coordinating specialized transit between cities.
Therefore, the Committee recommends that neighbouring cities should work together to develop joint policies for supporting inter-city travel. The Committee does not recommend a change to the Transportation Standards that would require these joint regional transportation plans . However, cities intending to develop such plans should report on their progress coordinating specialized transit between cities. They can make these reports yearly, as part of their multi-year accessibility plans.