Editor:
Re: Left stranded in our wheelchairs, June 27 letters.
I think anyone – including myself – who reads about letter-writer Richard Morrison’s experiences using HandyDart and wheelchair taxis can sympathize.
That is a very unfortunate situation and we are working to make appropriate service available for all our customers.
TransLink strives to find ways to serve the transportation needs of people with disabilities while also operating efficiently and within our means, as identified in the provincial audit of TransLink and the Regional Transportation Commissioner’s Efficiency Review.
We are working hard to make the best use of existing resources and deliver as many trips as possible.
Using taxis for some HandyDart trips is one example, and is a practice already used successfully by many other North American cities. By moving 10,000 service hours – less than two per cent – to taxis, we expect to deliver 7,000 more trips to our HandyDart customers.
Under this pilot, those who are able to make a trip by taxi on select routes will have that service, thereby freeing up trips for others whose needs are best met by HandyDart vehicles. As it is a pilot, we are monitoring this closely.
TransLink recognizes that demand for transportation services – for both conventional and custom transit – is growing. The people who live in this region and the officials who they elect to represent them are discussing how best to meet that challenge.
Doug Kelsey, TransLink CEO