Accessible Public Transit is a High Priority for the STO

Accessibility is a high priority for the Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO), both now and in the future, and is reflected in the accessible public transit development program (Plan de développement de l’accessibilité au transport en commun) approved by the STO’s Board of Directors today.

This document sets out the main policies for accessible public transit for people with functional limitations and reduced mobility. The program will result in a series of actions in the short, medium and long terms. It is an enhanced version of the STO’s program submitted in September 2009 to the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) in compliance with the Act to secure the handicapped in the exercise of their rights with a view to achieving social, school and workplace integration. The document is also a starting milestone for universal accessibility.

“For the past few years, the STO has been taking action that illustrates its clear desire to promote accessibility, and this program is part of the objective to ensure continuity,” explained André Sanche, representative for paratransit patrons on the STO’s Board of Directors. “The STO has been offering paratransit service since 1981. It is now heading gradually towards accessibility to ensure mobility for everyone on its regular system,” added Mr. Sanche. Acquiring low-floor buses with a flip-out access ramp at the front door, introducing accessible bus routes, creating a learning kit, test groups on the regular system for people with reduced mobility, and a public transit integration program for people with an intellectual impairment led jointly by the STO and the Association pour l’intégration communautaire de l’Outaouais (APICO), are some of the STO’s many initiatives. “These actions have shown results that encourage the Société to continue its efforts in this direction,” added Mr. Sanche.

The STO records about 40 instances every month of wheelchair users boarding its accessible bus routes. Routes 36, 37 and 38 take busy streets in the system, including StJoseph in the Hull sector, and route 300 provides service to several retirement homes.

The STO is also continuing to renew its fleet of low-floor buses. It currently has 179 low-floor buses, including 49 with an access ramp, in a fleet of 302 vehicles. By 2014, it will receive 52 articulated buses, 7 regular buses and 16 hybrid buses. These vehicles will all have a flip-out access ramp at the front door.


Other measures to promote accessibility are also planned. Over the next few years, the STO will continue to develop its system of accessible bus routes. Besides the Rapibus, which will adhere to accessibility guidelines, in particular regarding the layout of its stations, the STO also wants to revamp its service points similar to the improvements made to the Information Service at its administration centre, which is now accessible for people in wheelchairs and with reduced mobility. With its partners, including the City of Gatineau, the STO also plans to make its bus stops and infrastructures in the system more accessible. Ongoing training of staff and drivers regarding passengers in wheelchairs and with reduced mobility, as well as redesigning its Web site for greater accessibility, are among the activities planned.

“In the coming years, the STO will be facing a sizeable challenge as the population ages. Collaboration with its partners will be even more important because a collective response will be necessary to meet the needs of this population,” stated Mr. Sanche, recalling the importance of ties established with partners such as the City of Gatineau, the different parties concerned and the community organizations.

“Joint action and teamwork are essential when it comes to accessibility,” said city councillor Mireille Apollon, a member of the STO’s Board of Directors and chair of the Commission Gatineau - Ville en santé that oversees the universal accessibility committee.
 
“An accessible public transit system calls for co-ordinated activities with efforts from the STO, the City of Gatineau, the organizations concerned and the various parties in the community,” stated Ms. Apollon. “Promoting accessibility requires all the partners involved to work together for the greater benefit of the entire population. I am proud to say that this process has started and will continue in the coming years.”

The STO’s accessible public transit development program represents investments of close to $2 million over five years supported by different government grant programs, while the principle of universal accessibility also stems from a clear provincial desire among public transit corporations in Quebec.

The STO’s accessible public transit development program will soon be submitted to the MTQ for approval as set out in the Act.

On a related aspect, the STO was recognized last October at the annual conference of the Association du transport urbain du Québec for its accessible bus routes project.

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