A group of visually-impaired people have received free bus rides from Saint John Transit for years, but now that benefit has been taken away.
Until recently, transit user Scott Rinehart only had to show his CNIB card to board the bus for free.
“For myself, it’s never been about the money,” says Rinehart. “I don’t need the $2.75. I don’t want the $2.75. It’s a matter of my dignity as person.”
Rinehart and two other visually-impaired transit users have filed human rights complaints against the Saint John Transit Commission.
At least six more people plan to do the same soon. Some of the complainants have been riding the bus for free for decades.
“I want this bus pass to mean what it has for the last 45 years, that blind people want and need this,” says Rita Meehan.
The CNIB was informed of the change earlier this year in a letter from Saint John Transit.
Transit officials expressed concerns about the possibility that other disabled groups will start demanding free passes as well.
“There was now rising concern that the practice of providing complimentary passes to one specific disable group constitutes preferential treatment and therefore, contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” the commission stated in its letter. “This concern has led to the discontinuance of this practice at a number of transit systems.”
But a spokesperson for the group isn’t buying the transit commission’s explanation.
“Where it does exist, it still exists, right in Moncton, and I believe it’s a private company, Codiac, they still honour the CNIB card,” says spokesperson Pat Riley. “In Halifax, the same story, they still honour the CNIB card.”
Members of the visually-impaired community want the issue resolved quickly and say they would be open to mediation with transit authorities to avoid lengthy hearings at the Human Rights Commission.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
