posting
06-17-2008, 09:23 AM
Motion would put speakers on all buses
LOUD AND CLEAR Human rights commission ruling expects equal access on public transportation
The Whig-Standard 2008-06-17
For years, Rod Dingwall has been travelling by bus from his home at St. Lawrence Place to various places around Kingston, everywhere from Hotel Dieu Hospital to Canadian Tire.
Dingwall, 89, is legally blind and each time he boards a Kingston bus, he has to ask the driver to let him know when his stop is coming up.
Although city bus drivers are always friendly and helpful, Dingwall said he sometimes has trouble seeing the stops. That should change when Kingston Transit introduces a new automatic announcement system in all city buses by the end of September.
The system will announce the coming bus stop, both visually on a screen posted at the front of the bus and audibly over a speaker.
For Dingwall, the new system will do for him what drivers have done in the past.
Jeanette Parsons, equity adviser for Queen's University, said the new system will also encourage people with vision loss or blindness to become more independent.
"It allows them to take part in social activities with more freedom than they would have if they had to rely on other types of transportation," she said.
Parsons said automated systems aren't *****, which is probably why the city hasn't implemented one already.
City council will vote tonight on a recommendation by Kingston Transit to add $219,644 to the 2008 capital budget to pay for the automatic announcement system.
Paula Nichols, the city's manager of transit and parking, said if the amendment is approved, it will take 10 to 12 weeks to name all of Kingston's 750 bus stops, do the voice recordings of each stop's name and program the global positioning system (GPS) that will be installed in each bus.
"Bus installation will probably happen in mid-September," she said.
Nichols said the system is necessary if Kingston Transit is to comply with the Ontario Human Rights Commission's 2007 ruling regarding equal access on public transportation in Toronto.
"We've committed to the OHRC to have everything in place by the end of September," she said.
Nichols said the system would benefit all members of the Kingston community, not only those with vision loss or blindness.
"People tend to like it," she said. "They like hearing the name of their stop so they know it's approaching. It's also very helpful for people not from here [Kingston] or who have just moved here."
But for Parsons, the statement the city is making about the position of the blind community is the most important thing.
"I think it takes that sector of our community and it places them at the forefront as members of the community," she said.
"For persons who are blind in the community, this means that they're no longer invisible."
LOUD AND CLEAR Human rights commission ruling expects equal access on public transportation
The Whig-Standard 2008-06-17
For years, Rod Dingwall has been travelling by bus from his home at St. Lawrence Place to various places around Kingston, everywhere from Hotel Dieu Hospital to Canadian Tire.
Dingwall, 89, is legally blind and each time he boards a Kingston bus, he has to ask the driver to let him know when his stop is coming up.
Although city bus drivers are always friendly and helpful, Dingwall said he sometimes has trouble seeing the stops. That should change when Kingston Transit introduces a new automatic announcement system in all city buses by the end of September.
The system will announce the coming bus stop, both visually on a screen posted at the front of the bus and audibly over a speaker.
For Dingwall, the new system will do for him what drivers have done in the past.
Jeanette Parsons, equity adviser for Queen's University, said the new system will also encourage people with vision loss or blindness to become more independent.
"It allows them to take part in social activities with more freedom than they would have if they had to rely on other types of transportation," she said.
Parsons said automated systems aren't *****, which is probably why the city hasn't implemented one already.
City council will vote tonight on a recommendation by Kingston Transit to add $219,644 to the 2008 capital budget to pay for the automatic announcement system.
Paula Nichols, the city's manager of transit and parking, said if the amendment is approved, it will take 10 to 12 weeks to name all of Kingston's 750 bus stops, do the voice recordings of each stop's name and program the global positioning system (GPS) that will be installed in each bus.
"Bus installation will probably happen in mid-September," she said.
Nichols said the system is necessary if Kingston Transit is to comply with the Ontario Human Rights Commission's 2007 ruling regarding equal access on public transportation in Toronto.
"We've committed to the OHRC to have everything in place by the end of September," she said.
Nichols said the system would benefit all members of the Kingston community, not only those with vision loss or blindness.
"People tend to like it," she said. "They like hearing the name of their stop so they know it's approaching. It's also very helpful for people not from here [Kingston] or who have just moved here."
But for Parsons, the statement the city is making about the position of the blind community is the most important thing.
"I think it takes that sector of our community and it places them at the forefront as members of the community," she said.
"For persons who are blind in the community, this means that they're no longer invisible."