Baby on board? South Shore transit authority wants to make sure you get a seat

Pregnant, exhausted and can't feel your feet?

Never fear -- the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) has come up with a simple way to ensure soon-to-be mamas get a seat on its buses.

Starting this fall, expecting mothers can get a free "Bébé à bord!" pin, regardless of which trimester they are in, "to inform other passengers of their condition and enable them to travel more comfortably and safely."

"[It is a] practical and clear way of indicating that you need a seat on the bus," the RTL notes on its Instagram page. "The pin encourages users to show good citizenship by giving up their seats. They are also invited to do so for the elderly and people with reduced mobility."

 

 

 

 

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It is the only transit authority in the Greater Montreal area giving out these little pins, though others say they are now looking into whether they can do similar.

"We consider this to be an excellent initiative developed by the RTL, and we will evaluate the possibility of setting up an equivalent service," said Nathalie Vaillancourt, communications officer with the Société de transport de Laval (STL).

"We don't have a similar campaign for now at exo," said Eric Edström, the organization's media relations officer. "Seems like a good idea though, and we'll look into it."

For its part, the REM says it has no immediate plans to do something similar but says, "We will closely follow the program implanted by the RTL."

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) says it, too, does not have this kind of initiative in place.

However, it points out it does have reserved seating on many of its buses and metros for people with reduced mobility.

"These seats are accompanied by displays that raise awareness and invite users to give up their seats to pregnant women, the elderly and people with reduced mobility," said Kevin Bilodeau, a corporate officer with the STM. "We are currently working on our next civic-minded campaign. This campaign will be promoted among our users to encourage them to be more aware of the realities experienced by other users."

Bilodeau says the new campaign should be rolled out within the next year.