A review of the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Experience in Canada (September 2018)

Presently there are no Canadian accessibility design guidelines that transportation/traffic engineers, road designers, planners and practitioners can reference when designing accessible public transportation infrastructure. Numerous municipal and provincial government organizations across Canada have been developing their own set of accessible standards and guidelines for pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way. As a result, there is a need to review the standards and guidelines currently being used by Canadian municipalities and ministries with respect to accessible road infrastructure, and to determine whether there is an opportunity to develop uniform Canadian guidelines and standards.

A committee of professional individuals with transportation and traffic engineering backgrounds was formed to review the existing transportation accessibility design standards. This committee developed and distributed a survey to collect data and capture feedback from both municipal and provincial organizations and people with disabilities in Canada.

The committee compiled the collected data and information, and through careful review and analyses of survey results and research on transportation infrastructure accessibility facilities, the committee members were able to highlight commonalities and differences between accessibility design guidelines and standards between municipalities and jurisdictions in Canada.