Transit advocate raising concerns over new GOVA buses

When Charles Tossell stepped on a new GOVA Transit bus a few weeks ago, he liked a lot of the design features he saw. But he was disappointed to see a feature he'd spoken out against the last time the City of Greater Sudbury bought new buses, back in 2018.

On the new buses, purchased this spring, wheelchair users must sit facing backwards.

Tossell is not a wheelchair user himself, but as a transit and disability activist, he keeps a close eye on Sudbury's transit system.

"And I know a number of people in a wheelchair that really can't handle being forced to be backwards," Tossell said.

"I know I can't be facing backwards or facing sideways myself. It's very concerning to say the least, for people's health. You get nauseous or dizzy or worse the possibility of a seizure while in a bus. How is that fair?"

Tossell is calling on the city to make changes to its buses, to givepeople who use wheelchairs the option to face forward. However the city said the backwards facing system is safer.

A matter of safety, says city

Transit Services directorBrendan Adair said a total of 13 of the city's fleet of 59 buses are now designed to require wheelchair users to sit facing backwards.

In 2018 the city purchased three880 series buses. And earlier this month, added 10 new910 series buses to its fleet.

Adair said the configuration in the new buses is safer. The rear-facing set up has a padded section which a person would fall backwards into, if a driver had to slam on the brakes.

"We have had concerns where, with quick braking and the front facing aspect of the other vehicles, we have had people fall out of their chair, which is extremely unfortunate,"said Adair.

Adair said while there were a few complaints back in 2018, he's not aware of any since then.

Tossell said after the 880 buses were introduced, he voiced his concerns, in his role on the city's accessibility advisory panel. Now that there are more buses with a similar set up, he said he will voice his concerns again.

While he understands there could be safety benefits, Tossell believes each individual should have the choice of sitting facing forward.

'I did not like that experience at all'

Daniel Lebrun has used a wheelchair for more than 30 years, and relies on public transit to get around independently. Lebrun said his experiences with Sudbury's transit system were always positive, until he rodean 880 bus for the first time in 2019, and experienced what it was like to ride facing backwards, and not see where the bus was going.

"Without being able to brace myself and anticipate the turn, I ended up like falling to my left in my chair, and more or less being against the window. And I did not like that experience at all," Lebrun said.

With COVID-19 cases declining and restrictions easing, Lebrun said he will likely start taking public transit more often again this summer. But with the new buses on the road, he expects he'll now have a hard time avoiding buses where he has to face backwards.

"If I do take a bus and I'm sitting forward, I get downtown and I get a transfer, there'll probably be a bus downtown that I'll be sitting facing backwards again," Lebrun said.

More buses to be replaced

Last year, the city announced plans to replace 53 aging buses in its fleet, over the course of eight years. The 10 new buses added this month are the first step.

Adair said he doesn't know for sure what the models will look like for the next 43 new buses but he said it's likely they would also have the rear-facing set up for wheelchair users. He noted other cities, including Sault Ste. Marie and Mississauga, usebuses with the same design.

For Tossell, the situation is an example of how the city could improve its approach to accommodating people with disabilities.

"There are so many, so many types of disabilities. And I'm sure that the city would have one heck of a hard time to try to accommodate all of them," Tossell said, noting the city's efforts are appreciated by many.

"They definitely focus a lot onthe physicality for accessibility in their own building structures. But they still need work for improvement on, I want to say, invisible disabilities. Like motion sickness and mental illness and so forth. That's a lot of room for improvement I think still."