Blue seats make bolder statement for riders with greatest need

Blue priority seating debuted with the introduction of new articulated buses last May. Now they’re popping up on subway and streetcar fleets.

While articulated buses and new streetcars are entering service with blue seats, the rest of the fleet is getting retrofitted:

• Blue seats now appear on all T-1 trains (eight per car).
• SRT trains will be equipped with blue seats by year’s end (three per car).
• CLRVs and ALRVs will all have blue priority seats by year’s end.
• Toronto Rocket trains are scheduled to be retrofitted in blue next year (10 per car). 
• And nearly 400, 12-metre buses (from Queensway and Birchmount) will have blue seating by the end of 2014 (nine per bus), with the remainder of the bus fleet complete by the end of 2015.

In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, all TTC vehicles are already equipped with priority seating designated for use by a person with a disability or a physical limitation. Priority seating is being further enhanced with bolder information decals.

TTC By-Law No. 1 instructs that a person “make available a seat in the designated priority seating area to a person who is disabled or has a physical limitation requiring priority seating.”

If all priority seating on the vehicle is occupied, a customer in need can approach the Operator to request that priority seating be made available to them. Customers that do not meet the designated requirements for using the priority seats are expected to respect the purpose of the seating and give up their seat. However, there will be circumstances where a customer with a non-apparent or disability that’s not visible may need a priority seat; that customer is not required to move or reveal the medical condition that would entitle them to a priority seat.

TTC Operators are not required to enforce priority seating. Instead, Operators should remind customers of By-Law No. 1, and are instructed to contact CIS for assistance with a customer if required.