Decision No. 11-AT-R-2005

January 11, 2005

File No. U3570/03-44

BACKGROUND

In its Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004 dated April 6, 2004, the Canadian Transportation Agency (hereinafter the Agency) made a determination with respect to an application filed by John Benjamin concerning the level of assistance that VIA Rail Canada Inc. (hereinafter VIA) provided to him on a round trip between Ottawa, Ontario, and Québec, Quebec, via Montréal, Quebec, on October 6 and on October 10, 2003.

The Agency determined that the level of assistance that VIA provided to Mr. Benjamin, at various instances during his round trip, constituted an undue obstacle to his mobility. Pursuant to Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004, the Agency directed VIA to take the following corrective measures within thirty (30) days from the date of that Decision:

• Forward a written apology directly to Mr. Benjamin, in an electronic format, with respect to his travel experience and provide a copy of the apology to the Agency;
• Provide a written copy of the Agency's decision to VIA's service managers and to the train and station personnel on duty in Ottawa, Montréal and Québec on October 6 and 10, 2003 and provide written confirmation of such to the Agency;
• Issue a bulletin to its agents, service managers, train and station personnel as well as train employees highlighting the incident experienced by Mr. Benjamin, without identifying his name, and emphasizing the importance of providing services requested and maintaining appropriate levels of awareness and sensitivity to the particular needs of travellers with disabilities. In addition, the bulletin shall reinforce the importance of following the carrier's policies and procedures with respect to the provision of services to a passenger with a disability;
• Provide the Agency with a copy of the bulletin, as issued;
• Report to the Agency on what policies and procedures have been developed to prevent a recurrence of the situation experienced by Mr. Benjamin;
• Create and implement additional Special Services Request codes (hereinafter SSR codes) to denote specific services requested by persons with disabilities, particularly with respect to boarding assistance at all stations, assistance with detraining, as well as connections and provide written confirmation of such to the Agency;
• Describe, in detail, what steps will be taken to ensure that requests for specific services made by persons with disabilities, as communicated to VIA, are completely and accurately reflected in VIA's records, including the Passenger Name Record (hereinafter the PNR), passenger manifest and tickets, in order that its service manager and train and station personnel are in a position to know the specifics of such requests to ensure that the needs of passengers with disabilities will be met; and
• Incorporate this incident into its corporate training program, so as to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future, and provide the Agency with a modified training module.

VIA was also ordered to provide refresher training to VIA's service managers and to the train and station personnel including those on duty in Ottawa, Montréal and Québec on October 6 and 10, 2003 in respect of persons with disabilities and the kind of assistance required, with particular emphasis on the services required to accommodate the needs of persons who are blind.

VIA was further required to provide a schedule with respect to conducting employee training within thirty (30) days from the date of that Decision.

On May 4, 2004, VIA requested an extension until May 21, 2004 to meet the requirements of Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004. By Decision No. LET-AT-R-131-2004 dated May 6, 2004, the Agency granted the extension and, on May 14, 2004, VIA filed its response. Additional information was requested from VIA on June 29, July 9, 13, 14 and 16, 2004. On July 23, 2004, VIA filed further information as requested.

By Decision No. 564-AT-R-2004, dated October 25, 2004, the Agency determined that VIA had complied with the first eight corrective measures of Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004. However, the Agency also found that VIA had not fully complied with the ninth and last corrective measure of Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004, which required VIA to:

• provide refresher training to VIA's service managers and to the train and station personnel including those on duty in Ottawa, Montréal and Québec on October 6 and 10, 2003 in respect of persons with disabilities and the kind of assistance required, with particular emphasis on the services required to accommodate the needs of persons who are blind.

Decision No. 183-AT-R-2004 also required VIA to provide a schedule with respect to conducting employee training within thirty (30) days from the date of that Decision.

Accordingly, VIA was required to provide a schedule regarding training for the remainder of its employees with basic elements, i.e., either the names of the employees to receive the training or at least the employee groups targeted for the training and the anticipated dates for the training, within thirty (30) days from the date of the Decision.

On November 24, 2004, VIA filed with the Agency its response to Decision No. 564-AT-R-2004.

ISSUE

The issue to be addressed is whether or not the measures taken by VIA meet the requirements of Decision No. 564-AT-R-2004.

POSITION OF VIA

VIA's November 24, 2004 submission states, in part:

...VIA intends to fulfill its commitment to train all on-train and station front-line personnel through its systematic approach of providing a refresher training course to every employee who deals with passengers... In this respect, each regional trainer develops and coordinates the development of each annual training plan with the operational groups, after defining all training needs in order to develop the most efficient plan.

VIA confirms to having provided the new updated module "persons with disabilities" to 322 employees in various parts of the country in 2004. This includes 117 station and 122 on-train employees. In 2005, VIA plans to train 372 persons who are station and on-train employees with the module "persons with disabilities". VIA will conclude its commitment to train all on-train and station front-line personnel in 2006.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

With respect to the employee groups targeted for the training and the anticipated dates for the training, the Agency notes that VIA has confirmed that it has provided the new updated module "persons with disabilities" to 322 employees in various parts of the country in 2004, including 117 station and 122 on-train employees; that in 2005, VIA plans to train 372 persons who are station and on-train employees with the module "persons with disabilities"; and, in 2006, VIA will conclude its training of all on-train and station front-line personnel.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, the Agency is satisfied with the measures taken by VIA. Accordingly, the Agency contemplates no further action in this matter.