The City of Fredericton is looking into how to improve accessibility to public transit so more people can use conventional buses to get around in the capital city and has set a goal of being completely accessible by 2028.
Fredericton Transit and Parking Services manager Darren Charters said the Transit Accessibility Plan is 95 per cent done. The report was presented to the city’s Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
“We want to open up our fixed route transit to those who currently can’t use it,” Charters said.
He said the city wants to make conventional buses accessible to people with cognitive disabilities, vision and hearing impairments, and mobility impairments.
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“Right now, not a lot of people can use our conventional system and by opening up our conventional system, what that does is give people a lot more flexibility to enjoy the City of Fredericton,” Charters said.
Charters said the key is to get the fleet of buses accessible. He said that phase of the plan will be complete by 2018.
The report also outlines the importance of clearer signage, improvements and upgrades to existing stops.
There are currently 808 bus stops in Fredericton, and according to a report presented to the city’s Transportation Committee, only nine per cent of those stops are accessible.
“In other words, we could fully accept passengers on and off at those locations that’s not enough to start considering ourselves to be an accessible system,” he said. “So that’s why we’re going to do some work this year, next work to bring those numbers up so we have more fully accessible stops and ramp-deployable stops.”
“We’d like to see a lot of our stops be fully accessible, that’s our plan over time is to gradually, depending on funding, to bring those stops up to a fully accessible level,” Charters said.
The overall cost of the project is more than $500,000 over five years, with thousands in other costs annually in the years following.
The city is contributing $250,000 to match the funding it’s received from the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.
Charters said there are approximately 230 people who use the City’s Para Transit service. He said increased accessibility will decrease the number of people requiring that service.
“Right now, if they require a Para Transit system they have to book in advance, we have limited amount of trips so this really frees up the City’s transportation network,” Charters said.
He said a final proposal will likely be complete in September
Ward 6 Coun. Eric Megarity said he enjoyed the presentation done by Dillon Consulting Limited.
“It’s showing people that we are moving in the right direction with regards to people that have accessibility issues, but I also want to point out today that the report needed a little more work on accessibility for people that have dementia and Alzheimer’s,” Megarity said. “They have a right to use the bus as well as anybody else, so we have to put plans in place and policies in place to include them. So we have to include everybody.”
He said even clearer and simpler signage would be the best option, as well as special markings on bus passes so drivers are aware of potential issues, as well as better training for drivers to be able to identify people who have kinetic problems.
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“We have an aging population and we know that, so the need will be bigger, but also people that have physical disabilities and maybe visual and audible issues that we have to include them,” he said. “So it’s about being inclusive and that’s what a smart city should do is being inclusive to everybody. Don’t leave anybody behind.”
Transit user Bev MacFarland said he takes the bus at least three times a day.
He said the city doesn’t make it easy for seniors to use transit.
“I was born here, I wanted to die here, but I don’t want to be walking to wherever I’ve got to go. If I’ve got to use a wheelchair, I want to be able to get it on a bus,” MacFarland said.
Ability New Brunswick Inc. executive director Haley Flaro said the organization is pleased to have been part of the consultation process. In an email statement to Global News, Flaro said it’s great to see a detailed plan for accessible transit and infrastructure.
“We are leaving citizens and tourists, including opportunities for sport tourism, behind due to limited accessible public and private transportation in our City,” Flaro said. “It’s critical that we expand accessible transportation including accessible routes in the city as soon as possible.”
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