The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) released its “What We Heard” report summarizing the input received during its consultations on Phase II of its Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR).
On June 25, 2020, the CTA’s new ATPDR came into force. They establish modern legally binding requirements for accessible services, technical standards for equipment, communications, training, and security and border screening.
Building on these new regulations, the CTA launched public consultations on a second phase of the ATPDR, relating to requirements for small transportation service providers (TSPs), One Person, One Fare (1P1F) for international travel, emotional support animals (ESAs) and planning and reporting frameworks for TSPs under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA).
The CTA received 108 written submissions, including 67 from the public, 16 from the community of persons with disabilities, 21 from TSPs and four from government entities. The CTA also held a meeting with its Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) and had nine bilateral discussions with community representatives and TSPs. All written feedback received is available on our website.
In December, the CTA will be launching follow-up consultations on new accessible transportation guidelines for medium and small TSPs. These guidelines will set out what is expected of TSPs in meeting their human rights obligations to travellers with disabilities under Part V of the Canada Transportation Act (the Act). These guidelines will then be used to develop legally binding regulations. The CTA expects to publish guidelines in 2021 that will help inform proposed new regulations in 2022.
