Gatineau, QC – The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has announced that its Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR) are now finalized.
The regulations consolidate the CTA’s various accessibility instruments –six voluntary codes and two regulations – to create a single, robust, legally binding set of accessible transportation regulations.
The ATPDR require transportation service providers to:
- meet the communication needs of travellers with disabilities.
- train transportation workers to provide assistance to travellers with disabilities.
- comply with technical requirements regarding aircraft, trains, ferries, buses and terminals (such as airports).
- provide accessible services.
- make border and security screening accessible.
Most provisions of the ATPDR will come into force on June 25, 2020 while other more complex requirements will be phased-in over three years.
The final regulations reflect input received by the CTA from persons with disabilities and the industry, including members of the CTA’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, as well as the general public. A first phase of consultations was held for a two-year period between 2016 and 2018, and a 30-day comment period was held following the publication of draft regulations on March 9, 2019.
The regulations are part of the CTA’s Regulatory Modernization Initiative (RMI), a review of all the regulations and guidelines the CTA administers.
