In April 2017, we launched our diversity initiative, the Omnibus Project, to promote diversity at Busbud and beyond. Every quarter, our team carries out up to 5 actions to help foster diversity and in turn reports publicly on our progress.
We are thrilled to share the results for Q2 2021, ending June 30th. Here are our actions:
1) Travel For Everyone
The motivation of this initiative was to draw attention to invisible conditions that impact travelers. Anxiety impacts about 1 in 5 individuals and fewer than half will seek treatment and support. As a travel company, it’s important to offer tools and tips that extend beyond the transaction. For this reason, we have published a blog post in multiple languages that provides travelers with insights and guidelines for minimizing stress and anxiety and also maximizing comfort and happiness. The article, 12 Tips For People With Travel Anxiety, acts as a resource that travelers, whether by bus or other mode of transport, can refer to before, during and after their trip. In the future, we would like to replicate this formula for other conditions, challenges and disorders.
2) Open Mic: First Nation awareness
Recognition of the unique history, culture and traditions of each community is a fundamental first step Canadians can take to respect Indigenous Peoples. This is why, as one of our diversity initiatives, we choose to promote learning and awareness about First nations in Canada.
We organized a powerful Open mic with Linda Sioui. She is part of the first nation community of Wendake. Linda is an anthropologist, teacher, and she has been fighting for her community and other first nations in Canada, for over 20 years now.
There is still a long way to go before Indigenous people are truly free from imposed cycles of oppression, but we need to walk together to reconciliation.
3) Visual Impairment
This initiative was prompted by a temporary medical condition that impacted one of our employees many years ago. Having virtually no vision for almost a month, it necessitated the use of accessibility tools and applications to improve browsing and shopping experiences.
While the average person would have no reason to explore accessibility programs to improve the quality of their lives, it’s important to remember that a percentage of the population, however small, is affected with limitations or impairments- either physical or developmental or both.
Researching the visual impairment technology and presenting it to the team created awareness around tools such as braille displays and screen readers. Demonstrating these tools live showed a sneak peek into how some people interpret the web and sites they visit. Moving forward, we aim to be more mindful of users with limitations and will strive to implement customer-facing communications that are accessibility-oriented and can be easily consumed by users no matter their strengths and weaknesses.