The Transportation Standards under the AODA and the Transportation Standard under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) both require organizations to make transportation accessible to passengers with disabilities. Moreover, both standards require many of the same processes and practices to ensure accessibility. However, there are many important differences between the standards. The third review of the AODA recommends that the Ontario government should coordinate with other provinces and the federal government to ensure that accessibility laws are consistent across Canada. Therefore, requirements in the AODA may one day change to align with mandates under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. In this article, we will explore requirements for travelling with support persons and companions in Ontario and Manitoba.
Travelling with Support persons and Companions in Ontario and Manitoba
The AODA’s Transportation Standards and the Accessible Transportation Standard of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) both allow passengers on conventional and specialized transit to travel with support persons. Moreover, companies cannot charge fares for support persons.
Furthermore, both standards allow specialized transit passengers to travel with companions. Some passengers with disabilities may need to do all their travelling on specialized transit. The option to travel with a companion ensures that passengers are not required to travel everywhere alone. Instead, a companion can come with them as long as another passenger with a disability does not need the seat that the companion would occupy. Companions must pay the fares they would pay if they were travelling on conventional transit. In addition, specialized transit companies must allow dependent children of passengers with disabilities to travel with them.
Differences
In Ontario, passengers who need a support person when they travel must demonstrate this need to each transit company they use. Each company must create its own criteria for how passengers should show that they need support persons. When someone has demonstrated that they need to travel with a support person, they receive a support person designation, such as a pass or card. The passenger with a disability, not the support person, receives the designation. This system allows passengers to travel with different support persons at different times. In contrast, Manitoba’s mandate does not require passengers to demonstrate a need for their support persons.
Conversely, Manitoba specialized transit passengers must provide child restraint securement systems, such as car seats, if their children need them. Moreover, travellers must also install their child restraint securement systems. However, drivers must assist passengers to install these systems, upon request.