For immediate release \u2013 Friday April 17, 2015<\/p>\n
Yes or No: What to do after the transit referendum?<\/p>\n
Sat. April 18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11am \u2013 1pm<\/strong> HandyDART riders are hosting a public dialogue on transit Saturday in Maple Ridge. The event aims to find common ground on the need for better transit service for seniors and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n Maple Ridge Councillor Gordy Robson will explain why he is voting No, and Craig Speirs will give reasons for his Yes vote. They and other panelists, including HandyDART Rider Craig Langston, will also explain what they will do after the referendum to improve transit, regardless of the outcome of the vote.<\/p>\n HandyDART service hours have been frozen since 2009, and as a result trip denials went up over 600% before the contractor changed procedures to disguise the crisis. Overcrowding on conventional transit has also made riding transit more dangerous and less convenient for seniors and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance is going to keep on campaigning for more and better HandyDART service no matter what way the vote goes. But we can\u2019t do it alone,\u201d says HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance member Craig Langston. \u201cWith an aging population the need is soaring, and we need people and organizations to step up and make transit their priority.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be a 30% increase in HandyDART service with a Yes vote and we will work to get that in the first five years,\u201d says Beth McKellar, HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance spokesperson. \u201cBut if the No side wins it will be a tough fight to get any increase.\u201d<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n For more information please contact:<\/p>\n Beth McKellar – HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance Co-coordinator\u00a0 604 444 9289<\/p>\n Craig Langston – HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance board member 604 614 4423<\/p>\n Bob Chitrenky, President ATU Local 1724\u00a0\u00a0 778 229 2679<\/p>\n Organized by: HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance & ATU Local 1724<\/p>\n HandyDART Riders\u2019 Alliance\u00a0 www.handydartriders.ca For immediate release \u2013 Friday April 17, 2015 Yes or No: What to do after the transit referendum? Sat. April 18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11am \u2013 1pm Ridge Meadows Seniors Society 12150 – 224th Street Maple Ridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handydartriders.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRidge Meadows Seniors Society<\/strong>
\n12150 – 224th Street Maple Ridge<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nAmalgamated Transit Union Local 1724\u00a0 www.atu1724.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"