HandyDART Riders At TransLink Board Meeting
Media Release: HandyDART Riders’ Alliance
HandyDART increase insufficient to keep pace with need: TransLink report
On March 30 the TransLink board will discuss documents revealing that TransLink provides less HandyDART service per capita than comparable transit agencies, and that the population of people over 70 years old is expected to increase 55% in just 10 years.
TransLink now acknowledges that planned increases are inadequate. One TransLink document states that the “expansion in the Mayors’ Vision is expected to address the increased demand to some degree, but analysis shows that it is likely insufficient to catch up or keep pace with need.”
HandyDART service per-capita has been declining since 2009.
“The number of people with disabilities is increasing twice as fast as the rest of the population. Us baby boomers aren’t getting younger” says HandyDART Riders’ Alliance Co-coordinator Beth McKellar.
TransLink is proposing mandatory screening to reduce demand for HandyDART.
“We support voluntary training so that people have the freedom and flexibility that conventional transit offers, and HandyDART can never match” says McKellar “But trying to force people with disabilities onto overcrowded conventional transit is not the answer. We need funding for more HandyDART buses.”
HandyDART Riders Alliance spokespeople will be speaking and will be available for interviews at the TransLink Board meeting 10am Thursday March 30 at the TransLink Boardroom – 4th floor 287 Nelson’s Court New Westminster, BC
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For more information please contact:
Beth McKellar – HandyDART Riders’ Alliance Co-chair 604 444 9289
www.HandyDARTriders.ca