Minutes to the Meeting of the
Accessible Transportation Standards Development Committee (T-SDC)

Canadian Standards Association
5060 Spectrum Way
Mississauga, Ontario
January 25 - 26, 2007

Members Present:

• Al Cormier, Cor Al Services, Chair
• George Ansell, Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
• Jo-Ann Bentley, Canadian Hearing Society
• Earl Black, Independent Living Resource Centre
• Mark Brose, Transportation Action Now
• Silvan Bruno, GO Transit
• Katrina Carrera, Association des municipalités Francophones de l'Ontario
• David Carroll, Ontario Motor Coach Association and School Bus Association (January 25 only)
• Peter Chin, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
• Alex Grant, HAGI Community Services for Independence
• Sharon Hambleton, Ontario Federation of Labour
• Blyth Helman, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• Glenn Johnston, Toronto Transit Commission
• Kim Lambert, Ministry of Transportation (represented by Rob Barnes)
• Lesley Anne MacDonald, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (January 25 and January 26 - a.m. only)
• Alex Milojevic, Association of Municipalties of Ontario, City of Brampton
• Tim Nolan, Council of Ontario Universities
• Kelly Palecnzy, Ontario Community Transportation Association
• Lloyd Pollock, Dignity Transportation Incorporated
• Danielle Svec, Life Skills Institute (Bloorview Kids Rehab)
• Vanissa Szeto, Ministry of Education (January 25 only)
• Tanya Wanio, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Absent Members:

• Valmay Barkey, Ontario Community Support Association
• Spiros Bastas, Royal Taxi
• James Bisson, Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario/City of Mississauga
• Tony Carnovale, Community Living Ontario
• Susan Enid Mintz, The Kidney Foundation of Canada

Support Unit:

• Kevin Boehmer, Canadian Standards Association
• Mike Dodd, Canadian Standards Association
• Mansur Rahim, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario
• Jill Sawchuk, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario
• Nelly Tion, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario
• Scot Weeres, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

Consultants:

• David Dilks, Lura Consulting

M10.1 Call to Order

A. Cormier (Chair) called the 10th meeting of the Accessible Transportation Standards Development Committee (T-SDC) meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. on January 25, 2007.

M10.2 Housekeeping and Facility Safety

M. Dodd advised members of facility safety procedures and other housekeeping matters.

M10.3 Meeting Objectives

The Chair detailed objectives of the 10th meeting, including:

• Agree on a process to disposition comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation standard;
• Disposition Draft 5 comments; and
• Revise the T-SDC workplan.

M10.4 Administrative Matters

M10.4.1 Approval of the Meeting 10 Draft Agenda

The Chair suggested the following additions to the draft agenda:

a) Welcome from Ellen Waxman - The Chair suggested Ellen Waxman, Assistant Deputy Minister, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario be invited to address the T-SDC following the membership review.

b) Letter from Minister Meilleur - The Chair tabled a letter from Minister Meilleur extending the T-SDC’s mandate to May 31, 2007 to complete an initial proposed standard.

c) Report from Uve Ruttenberg - The Chair noted that results from a technical report on mobility aid sizes would be discussed when considering comments on relevant technical sections of the draft standard.

d) Transit Submission on Specialized Transit - The Chair noted that the transit industry had developed a presentation on specialized transit that they wished to share with the T-SDC. It was agreed that the T-SDC would view the presentation before the discussion on Clause 5, Specialized Transit.

The draft Meeting 10 agenda was approved with the additions noted above.

M10.4.2 Approval of the Meeting 9 Draft Minutes

The revised Meeting 9 draft minutes were approved as circulated.

M10.4.3 Membership Review

The Chair noted there were no changes to the T-SDC membership since the last meeting.

The Chair welcomed E. Waxman, Assistant Deputy Minister, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario to the meeting. E. Waxman thanked T-SDC members for their hard work, dedication and commitment to a common goal. She reminded that the consensus building process was an important outcome in itself and encouraged members to collaborate in goodwill for the benefit of Ontarians.

The Chair noted that Lura Consulting had been retained to facilitate the Process Review (10.5), Dispositioning of Comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation Standard (A10.6) and Development of the Workplan (A10.7). The Chair introduced D. Dilks from Lura Consulting as the Meeting 10 facilitator.

M10.5 Process Review

D. Dilks asked members if they had comments or suggestions for improvement on the process employed from Meeting 9 to Meeting 10. No comments or suggestions were offered.

M10.6 Dispositioning of Comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation Standard

M10.6.1 Process to Disposition Comments

D. Dilks presented a suggested plan for reviewing comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation standard. He suggested that the T-SDC might consider addressing comments in the following order at Meeting 10:

1. Preface and Scope (Comments #1 – 28);
2. Booked Services (Comments #146 – 148);
3. School Transportation (Comments #149 – 154);
4. On-Demand Taxi (Comments #141 – 145); and
5. Fixed Route Transit (Comments #39 – 123).

D. Dilks suggested that the T-SDC consider comments on specialized transit, definitions and long-term objectives at Meeting 11. He further suggested that the committee strive to agree on the intent of clauses leaving wordsmithing and editing to sub-groups of the committee. D. Dilks further recommended that once a comment had been considered and addressed, that it not be re-opened without all committee member agreement; and additional, new comments tabled during the meeting should only be addressed if all committee members agree.

The T-SDC agreed to use the approach to dispositioning comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation standard as proposed by D. Dilks.

M10.6.2 Dispositioning of Draft 5 Comments

The T-SDC spent most of Meeting 10 dispositioning comments on Draft 5 of the Accessible Transportation standard. The T-SDC decided that the Editorial Task Force would be asked to incorporate decisions on Draft 5 comments into Draft 6 of the proposed standard for committee review at Meeting 11. The following progress was made on Draft 5 comments at Meeting 10:

During consideration of comments on subclause 4.21 (Stop Announcements), L. MacDonald supported a requirement that all stops be announced within a 3-year time frame. The Chair asked that the Editorial Task Force, based on Meeting 10 discussions, draft a revised stop announcement clause for review and decision at a subsequent meeting.

M10.7 Development of the Workplan

The T-SDC agreed with the following work plan:

S. Bruno asked when the costing and readiness consultants would provide a revised cost estimate of proposed standard requirements. S. Weeres responded that the consultants would provide a revised estimate once the T-SDC had agreed to a complete draft standard.

M10.8 Next Meetings

The committee decided to convene subsequent meetings as follows:

The Chair asked the T-SDC to consider holding 3-day meetings or extending the hours of 2-day meetings to ensure that work was completed during the committee’s mandate. The Committee did not support the Chair’s suggestion, but did agree to schedule 20 minute breaks at subsequent meetings.

M10.9 New Business

No new business was identified.

M10.10 Process Review

In written comments or verbal interventions, T-SDC members were encouraged to be concise and clearly articulate the intent of proposals.

M10.11 Adjournment

The chair adjourned the 10th meeting of the Accessible Transportation Standards Development Committee at 4:00 pm on January 26, 2007.

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