[PRCo] Bilingual bus drivers

[Fred Schneider]

You know how I feel on this.   In Brussels it is policy that bus  
drivers and trolley motormen and subway staff speak both French and  
Flemish.   And I think it is fantastic that Herb can greet his  
passengers in Cleveland in both Spanish and English.   Because the  
west Germans, during our occupation, taught English in the schools  
starting in the third grade, many and perhaps more than 50% of the  
transit personnel in Germany spoke German and English.   In  
Switzerland, because they have four national languages, most people  
in public service occupations speak multiple languages.
But somehow, in Canada, this seems to be forcing the issue the wrong  
way.   Should not the policy be requiring everyone to learn the other  
language starting in the third grade ... then in fifty years the  
problem would go away.  That would also be my solution to Spanish and  
English in the U. S.    If three-quarters of the people eventually  
speak both languages, then you don't fear without reason that the  
other person is speak behind your back about you.

You cannot force 40-year-old bus drivers to learn a new language.    
It doesn't work.   You can get them to learn a few sentences.   Then  
when the stranger asks what you don't know, you're dead in the  
water.    But you can put signs under the drivers name on the bus  
that proclaim that this driver speaks Spanish and English.   You  
could ask for drivers who do speak the other language to volunteer to  
work those neighborhoods.



Ottawa man lobbies for bilingual bus drivers

Last Updated: Friday, December 7, 2007 | 5:47 PM ET
CBC News
Ottawa bus drivers might greet riders with a "hello," but a "bonjour"  
is rare, and that's not fair, says one francophone passenger.

Michel Thibodeau has launched an official complaint against OC  
Transpo, the city's public transit company, demanding that it enforce  
its policy of treating francophones and anglophones equally.

That entails greeting passengers, calling out stops and making  
announcements in both languages, he said.

"So that francophones don't feel left out," he added.

The company should ensure new drivers are bilingual and current  
drivers should get language training so they can at least greet  
passengers in French, he said.

The City of Ottawa's French services department is currently looking  
into the complaint. Thibodeau said he expects to hear from them next  
week.

Bilingual drivers would be ideal, said OC Transpo head Alain Mercier,  
and the company is making an effort to offer more services in both  
languages.

"It certainly is a challenge to work towards bilingualism with the  
2,000 people in our organization," he said.

And while the people hired by the company aren't guaranteed to be  
bilingual, the vehicles they use will be.

All new buses will be soon be equipped with a system that  
automatically calls out major stops in both French and English,  
Mercier said.