When elected mayors and councillors sat on the TransLink Board, they listened to people with disabilities and seniors and increased HandyDART service hours by about 5% per year to keep up with demand. But after the provincial government removed elected board members and imposed an appointed board in 2008, HandyDART service hours were frozen and HandyDART trip denials soared.
Now our elected mayors are regaining some of their lost power. The Mayors Council is putting together a package of transit improvements to be voted on in the transit referendum that will likely happen in June 2015. But increased HandyDART funding will only be part of the referendum package if the Mayors insist on having it included.