Frontline transit workers across the TransLink system have now begun to wear pins indicating the languages they are able to speak in addition to English.
The pins, which say ‘hello’ in various languages, are hoped to encourage customers to ask for help in their preferred language.
Currently incorporating over 40 languages, participants in the scheme include staff from TransLink, Coast Mountain Bus Company and the BC Rapid Transit Company.
TransLink CEO, Kevin Quinn, said:It can be difficult to ask for help when you don’t speak the local language.
These language pins help create a more welcoming environment for all customers and improve the transit experience for everyone who rides our system.
In addition to the language pins; TransLink also offers both customer information support and transit customer care in more than 300 languages, travel training videos in English, Cantonese, French, Mandarin, Punjabi, Ukrainian, and English Described Video, sessions for seniors, newcomers, and persons with disabilities in more than 11 languages and additional languages available upon request through community organisations.
The 2021 Statistics Canada census found that over 27% of Metro Vancouver families speak languages other than English or French at home, highlighting the region’s diversity with around 170 different languages spoken throughout.
