Procurement

• MTO continues to build stronger accessibility language and criteria into requests for proposals (RFPs) and is moving from accessibility being a weighing / scoring factor to it being a mandatory requirement for those activities that have an impact on people with disabilities.
• The e-learning RFP incorporated mandatory accessibility criteria seeking one e-learning version that will be accessible to all.
• Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) procurement obligations were shared with managers and staff responsible for procurement activities during the fall training sessions. Staff responsible for providing advice, guidance and assistance to this large group attended a workshop on the application of the OPS Inclusion / Accessibility Lens.
• In the RFP for the future Highway 407 East, MTO has included in the scope expanded bridge widths to accommodate sidewalks where appropriate.  Where sidewalks are built, their widths will meet accessibility standards per current MTO bridge policies.
• In 2008, MTO, working with municipal transit services in Ontario, initiated the development of a joint procurement process for the annual purchase of municipal transit buses. In early 2011, through Metrolinx, a request for 12-metre transit buses on behalf of various Ontario municipalities was issued. This request used the draft transportation standards developed under the AODA to describe the technical requirements of the vehicles. All vehicles purchased under this program were compliant with a draft of the AODA’s transportation standards months before they were enacted. It is expected that around 280 accessible 12-meter buses will be procured through this process from 2011 to 2013.