Fix language problems alongside other issues, OC Transpo

Those who speak minority tongues are facing extra hurdles, Amy Yee says.

Five years ago, the Kanata Chinese Seniors’ Support Centre initiated a consultation in Barrhaven and Kanata among its seniors. The majority of participants said OC Transpo was how they got around. But these participants also listed both language and transportation as significant barriers to daily life. Some described “fear of getting lost, from lack of sense of direction and not knowing how to take a bus” as limiting their outings. The report suggested an important factor in improving health and well-being was “making seniors comfortable using the bus by making them familiar with the routes and places they need” to go.

As OC Transpo moves to fix some of the recent problems with both light rail and bus routes, it also needs to think about better serving communities such as these seniors.

In recent consultations at Somerset West Community Health Centre, for instance, Chinese and Vietnamese seniors reported frequent experiences of racism on transit.

Pat Scrimgeour, director of transit customer systems and planning, said in an email that Transpo staff handle language barriers everyday with professionalism. When a language issue takes place, Scrimgeour says, a bus driver calls a supervisor to help, often locating a staff member with language capacity, then connecting them by radio.

This process however, seems lengthy and prone to inconsistencies. I saw a driver shuffling a Chinese-speaking senior off the bus at night in the midst of language issues — something I get the feeling is more common than not.

Another night, I saw a transit rider racially harass a driver. According to Transpo, one-quarter of drivers who filled out a voluntary survey identified as visible minorities. Last year, in response to assaults, Transpo launched a pilot project to protect drivers with glass barriers — but that doesn’t change verbal harassment.

Transpo doesn’t carry data on the number of racialized seniors who take the bus on free transit days, but Chinese seniors often use it with social services organizations ensuring their programs coincide with that weekday. Yet the Good Companions Seniors’ Centre, also offering Chinese programs, has seen a large plunge in attendance since buses were reassigned after the launch of light rail.

Outside of English and French, Transpo’s translation policy is ad hoc, but it says translated materials are available for large changes or when significant populations are affected. Still, it didn’t translate brochures for the new LRT — the largest change in Ottawa transit. Those changes included bus numbers and routes and a requirement of a $6 Presto card for seniors to enter the LRT gates on free days.

In 2017, Transpo translated pamphlets for EquiPass in languages such as Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Arabic and Somali, languages chosen based on demographics, according to Scrimgeour. But staff from social services organizations involved with the project at the time say initial EquiPass materials were only printed in English and French until concerns were raised.

Last fall, sandwich board signs in Chinatown were translated into English, French and Simplified Chinese to announce the bus route 11 changes. But when the route was again changed a month after because of rider advocacy, the new signs were only in English and French.

LeBreton station, now known as Pimisi, is a major stop near Chinatown. The media covered the name change six years ago when it was approved, but bus announcements started changing about a week before the LRT opened — with little publicity or outreach to ensure communities were aware or understood.

O-Train ambassadors led LRT tours with the public for a limited time. The postings for these jobs required English and French, but Scrimgeour says some staff had fluency in other languages, with one employee leading a Vietnamese tour.

There are more sustainable ways to be proactive with language access and safety.

For example, could additional language options have not been added to the new ticket machines as they are at ATMs?

Transpo has made efforts in language accessibility, but its translation and interpretation policy is too reactive and inconsistent. There are significant wayfinding issues with light rail and these will greatly affect people who already face barriers. Let’s make sure these are fixed along with the other problems commuters have identified in the last several weeks.