New Winnipeg Transit policy will make sure people with disabilities get a spot on the bus

A new policy ensuring people with disabilities can find a spot on the bus is rolling into Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Transit's forthcoming policy outlines two types of seating that will be affected.

Priority seats — the ones at the front of the bus — are for people with disabilities. Courtesy seats, which are the forward-facing ones closest to the priority seats, are for those who benefit from being near a door, including seniors and families with young kids, the city said in a news release. 

When someone with a disability — whether it's visible or invisible — needs a seat on the bus, passengers who don't have a disability will be asked to move elsewhere.

The bus driver will play an automated message with the request and may also remind the passengers directly if needed, the release said.

The new policy will take effect on Oct. 5, after a three-month public education campaign from Winnipeg Transit, the city said.

Patrick Stewart, who was among those who advocated for the policy, said the changes will mean people who use wheelchairs won't have to worry about a bus passing them because there's no room in priority seating.

"The previous policy was really almost no policy. It was first come, first serve. And there weren't really any rules or guidelines that determined what to do in situations when everybody … can't be accommodated on the bus," said Stewart, who works for the Independent Living Resource Centre, an organization that supports people with disabilities.

"The experience for many passengers with disabilities, especially many wheelchair users, was that they would be passed up." 

The policy was passed by city council last year, a city spokesperson said in an email. 

Under the new policy, spaces for mobility aids will still be able to be used for other items, like strollers or bags. But those items will need to be moved if someone with a mobility aid needs it to access the bus, the spokesperson said.

The new policy also says people with strollers on the bus will have to be able to fold and store them if needed to make sure the priority seating is available for people with disabilities. There are also size guidelines in place for strollers, wheelchairs and scooters.

Rae Metcalfe, a parent of two young kids, said they're worried about what that part of the policy will mean for families like theirs who often rely on the bus to get around — and need a double stroller to do it.

The new policy "makes it very hard for parents of infants [or] of more than one kid … to be able to function in society and use public transportation that is supposed to be available to everybody," Metcalfe said.