Proposed Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations now published in Part I of the Canada Gazette
GATINEAU, QC, March 11, 2019 /CNW/ - The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) today announced that its proposed Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR) are now published in Part I of the Canada Gazette for public review and comment. The proposed regulations consolidate the CTA's various accessibility instruments – including six voluntary codes and two regulations - to create a single, robust, legally binding set of accessible transportation regulations.
The CTA consulted extensively with persons with disabilities and industry, including members of its Accessibility Advisory Committee, as well as the general public, on which regulatory measures can help make the federal transportation network more accessible for persons with disabilities.
The proposed regulations will stipulate to transportation service providers:
- How to communicate with travellers with disabilities.
- How to train transportation workers to help travellers with disabilities.
- How to make carriers (airlines, railways, buses and ferries), as well as terminals (such as airports) accessible.
- How to provide accessible services.
- How to make border and security screening accessible.
The proposed regulations are being made as part of the CTA's Regulatory Modernization Initiative (RMI), a review of all the regulations and guidelines we administer. Launched in May 2016, the RMI's first phase of consultations was devoted to accessible transportation.
How to Comment
Comments can be submitted to [email protected] until April 8, 2019. For more information on the proposed regulations, refer to the CTA's Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations web page and backgrounder.
Quote
"Accessible transportation is a human right whose realization is essential to achieving equality, inclusion, and dignity for Canadians with disabilities. Our goal is nothing less than to make Canada's national transportation system the most accessible in the world. That's an ambitious vision, but we believe that in a country whose values include equality and inclusion, we should aspire to nothing less."
Scott Streiner, Chair and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency
Next Steps
The CTA will review all comments received following the pre-publication of the proposed regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette and may propose adjustments based on this feedback for the publication in CGII. The final regulations are expected to be published in Part II of the Canada Gazette by summer 2019. Most provisions of the regulations would come into force one year from final publication, with some more technical provisions being phased in over three years.
Reference material
Backgrounder
Plain language summary
FAQs
CTA Chair & CEO bio
About the Agency
The Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator that has, with respect to all matters necessary for the exercise of its jurisdiction, all the powers of a superior court. The CTA has three core mandates: helping to keep the national transportation system running efficiently and smoothly, protecting the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to accessible transportation services, and providing consumer protection for air passengers. To help advance these mandates, the CTA makes and enforces ground rules that establish the rights and responsibilities of transportation service providers and users and level the playing field among competitors, resolves disputes using a range of tools from facilitation and mediation to arbitration and adjudication, and ensures that transportation providers and users are aware of their rights and responsibilities and how the CTA can help them.
SOURCE Canadian Transportation Agency
Canadian Transportation Agency, Media Relations, [email protected], Tel.: 819-934-3448
Share this article