North Bay Mayor Al McDonald will get a sense of what blind people and people confined to wheelchairs experience every day when riding a bus.
The Mayor has agreed to a request from the Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee to board a para bus on June 6th either while sitting in a wheelchair or blindfolded to simulate blindness.
The event is to test the adequateness of the transit system “to see the challenges individuals who might have sight impairment or mobility issues” face.
“I’m happy to do it because it gives us an opportunity to learn and see what other barriers we can breakdown in our community,” McDonald said.
McDonald says he doesn’t know yet what handicap he faces when it’s time to board the para bus.
He prefers the blindfold because the Mayor feels he can predict the mobility challenges.
“But the blindfold would be something new and there will be a lot of challenges to it,” he said.
“I’m hoping it’s the blindfold so I can really experience what it’s like to try and move around if you can’t see.”