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INVITATION TO PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETING The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority kindly invites all parents/guardians and stakeholders from the Ottawa-Carleton District and the Ottawa Catholic School Boards to participate in consultation meetings regarding proposed policy hamonization for transportation services. All sessions will contain the same agenda and information and are open to participants of either school board. There will be a presentation and Q&A period.
This set of meetings is being conducted to determine the overall policies governing the entire transportation system. There will be no information as to application of the new policies to specific transportation zones or schools. In the winter of 2013, more public consultation will occur where detailed information about how the policies have been applied to specific school areas will be made available.
The sessions will be held on the following dates and locations:
April 2, 2012 – A.Y. Jackson S.S. – 150 Abbeyhill Dr., Kanata April 3, 2012 – Confederation E.C. - 1645 Woodroffe Ave., Nepean April 4, 2012 – Glebe Collegiate – 212 Glebe Ave., Ottawa April 5, 2012 – Cairine Wilson S.S. – 975 Orleans Blvd., Orleans April 10, 2012 – Pope John XXIII E.S. – 165 Knoxdale Rd., Nepean Sessions will begin at 5:30pm and scheduled to end at 7:00 pm, but staff will be available until 7:30 pm. In an effort to become more efficient and to deliver superior transportation services. the OSTA and its Memeber Boards are proposing to harmonize the following policies and procedures (not an exhaustive list): · Reducing eligibility distances for grades 7 and 8 from 3km to 1.6km (OCDSB) · Increasing eligibility distances for grades 9-12 from 3km to 3.2km (OCDSB – service levels continue as is) · Including city-maintained walkpaths in mapping infrastructure for distance measurement (OCSB) · Allowing childcare addresses as alternate address for eligibility distances (OCDSB) · Establishing standard Hazard Zone criteria and assessment methodology (OCDSB/OCSB)
RELATED DOCUMENTS REVISED - Hazard Zone Assessment Procedure Hazard Zone Assessment Procedure
DRAFT - Proposed Changes for T14 - Transportation Services
Please click on the links below for Morrison Hershfield’s report:
OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Main Report OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix A OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix B OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix C OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix D OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-1 OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-2 OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-3
FAQ’s
What is OSTA and what does OSTA do? Recent Transportation Reforms introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2006/07 required School Boards across the province to develop partnerships that will see the combining of Transportation Departments of local school Boards into a fully integrated transportation organization. The objective of these reforms is to move towards the co-operative delivery of safe, effective and efficient student transportation for School Boards that share common coterminous geographical areas, such as exist with the Ottawa-Carleton District and Ottawa Catholic School Boards. In an effort to meet the Ministry of Education’s requirements, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) established a joint steering committee for the purpose of creating a Transportation Consortium in January 2007. Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) is responsible for the management and administration of all home to school transportation of eligible students of the Ottawa-Carleton District and the Ottawa Catholic School Boards. What is policy harmonization? In order to deliver transportation services in an efficient and effective way, OSTA operations needs one set of policies and procedures that may be applied consistently in all areas of transportation planning and management. Currently, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board have a number of policies with differing service standards. This makes it difficult to ensure that services are being offered in a safe and equitable manner throughout the consortium’s transportation boundaries. The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority, in partnership with the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Ottawa Carleton District School Board are working toward developing one set of policies and procedures to govern how transportation services are delivered to all students. Which policies are being harmonized? The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority is conducting public consultation to advise and seek feedback from stakeholders of proposed changes to the following policies: 1) Eligibility Distances Eligibility distance is the minimum distance at which a student may become eligible for transportation, also referred to as walking distance. The OCDSB will see a change in eligibility distance for grades 7 and 8. Currently the distance is at 3km, but it would be shortened to 1.6 km. There is no change for OCSB. The OCDSB will see a change in eligibility distance for grades 9 to 12. Currently the distance is 3km, but it would be lengthened to 3.2 km. There is no change for OCSB. Please note that service levels (ie no transportation within UTA) will continue “as is” until further notice. There are no proposed changes to policies governing eligibility distances for JK, SK or grades 1 to 6 in either school board, as these are already harmonized. 2) Childcare addresses as alternate address for eligibility distance The OCDSB is proposing to allow childcare addresses within a school’s transportation boundary to be used as an alternate address to the student’s home address in order to determine eligibility for transportation. This is currently the practice at OCSB. School transfers will continue to be governed according to each school board’s transfer policies and approval of transfers is at the Principal’s discretion. Childcare address does not automatically guarantee a school transfer. The OCDSB may re-visit this policy at a later date, should school planning be negatively impacted by an extraordinary number of transfer requests.
3) Distance Measurement Methodology The OCSB would allow city-maintained walk-paths (with snow clearance) to be used as part of the mapping infrastructure when calculating eligibility distances. There is no change for OCDSB as they have been using walk-paths for several years. 4) Hazard Zones Reviews – Criteria and Assessment Methodology Currently there is no policy governing the standard application of hazard zones for either school board, apart from temporary and/or ad hoc applications at the operation’s discretion. In order to ensure safe and equitable transportation services, OSTA has undertaken to establish a standard set of hazard criteria and an assessment methodology that can be applied to all walk zone areas. Hazard criteria and specific areas may be reviewed and/or re-assessed depending on circumstances and at the discretion of OSTA’s General Manager.
Are walk paths safe, particularly in the winter? The OCDSB has been using city-maintained walk-paths as part of its infrastructure for calculating distances for several years. To date, there have not been any significant complaints or reports regarding safety concerns on any paths currently being used in OSTA’s mapping software. Snow clearance of walk paths forms part of the City of Ottawa’s sidewalk clearing network. Walk-paths and sidewalks within school walking zones have been prioritized for snow clearance as the City of Ottawa recognizes there is the need for safe and clear paths for students to get to school. The City of Ottawa strives to clear priority areas as quickly as possible.
What are hazard criteria? Hazard criteria are elements that may contribute to the increased risk of danger given the more limited awareness of child pedestrians in traffic situations. Hazard criteria assessed include, but are not limited to, the following: a. Corridors ie collector roads, major collectors and arterial roads b. Crossings ie unprotected, two-way and multi-stop, round-about c. Separation from traffic ie sidewalks, shoulders d. Traffic speed and volume of vehicles e. Sight distances and obstacles f. Mitigation ie adult crossing guards, signalized intersections
What is the assessment methodology and point threshold? A set of data collection forms has been produced to assist review teams in assessing various elements and evaluating hazards during site visits. Review teams then assign points to individual criteria, the total of which becomes the determining factor on whether the certain areas need to be deemed hazardous or not. Some hazard criteria may immediately warrant busing, regardless of total points, while other assessments may require combination warrants to a point threshold. The point thresholds for specific grades are established by the OSTA Board of Directors and its Member Boards. The proposed point thresholds are: Grades JK to 3 – 60 points warrants bus transportation Grades 4 to 6 – 100 points warrants bus transportation Morrison Hershfield, a consulting engineering firm with offices across Canada, was contracted by OSTA to create a set of hazard criteria and assessment methodology in 2011.
Please click on the links below for Morrison Hershfield's report: OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Main Report OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix A OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix B OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix C OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix D OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-1 OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-2 OSTA - Morrison Hershfield Appendix E-3
Who will conduct the hazard zone assessments? OSTA is planning on contracting out hazard zone assessments to a qualified company and has produced a tender to this effect. All hazard zone assessments will be conducted according to the criteria and methodology approved by the OSTA Board of Directors and its partner Member Boards. OSTA staff may conduct assessments of temporary hazard zones or new sites and/or re-assessments in the future.
When will hazard zone assessments take place? It is anticipated that all sites within OSTA’s transportation boundary will be assessed in 2012 and the results will be integrated in OSTA’s mapping software for full application in the 2013-2014 school year. Will there be a bell time review? As part of OSTA’s route optimization, a review of bell times, in conjunction with new mapping infrastructure to calculate eligibility distances, would result in maximizing the use of public funds through effective and efficient transportation of the OCSB’s and the OCDSB’s students. Bell time reviews will occur in 2012 and will be communicated to schools and parents in winter of 2013. When will these proposed harmonized policies come into effect? 2012-2013
2013-2014
How and when will I know if these proposed changes affect my child’s transportation? At this time, OSTA and its Member Boards are simply creating and revising policies and procedures. The application of the harmonized policies and procedures will occur during 2012 as OSTA staff integrates hazard zones and walk-paths into its mapping software. Bell time reviews will occur after this work is completed. OSTA will provide information about harmonized policies (once they have been approved) on its website and through several networks linking OSTA to OCSB and OCDSB stakeholders including school websites, social media and other channels. It is anticipated that policies will be approved prior to end of school year 2012. Parents having specific questions regarding transportation for their child(ren) should contact OSTA directly or visit the OSTA website at www.ottawaschoolbus.ca. OSTA will hold another series of public consultation sessions in winter of 2013 and will have further information available regarding the impacts of hazard zones and walk-paths on specific schools and individual students at that time. How do I share my thoughts and comments with OSTA? Any feedback can be sent directly to OSTA via email to feedback@ottawaschoolbus.ca. A comment card will also be available at public sessions, or you can mail or fax your feedback to:
Ottawa Student Transportation Authority Confederation Education Centre 1645 Woodroffe Ave, Rm 102 Ottawa, ON K2G 1W2 Fax: (613) 224-8840
MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER |
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