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LETTER: Senior calling for better transit system

As aging seniors we really need to look ahead and plan what our lives will look like when we can no longer operate a vehicle safely.

As aging seniors we really need to look ahead and plan what our lives will look like when we can no longer operate a vehicle safely on the highway.

This can mean relocating to be near medical and hospital facilities. Eight years ago we sold our family home and moved to a seniors apartment to have freedom to travel and to be closer to transportation services (bus system, taxis etc.).

And we now find that people who sit in offices and make the decisions have no clue or caring for the aging population of seniors. At a recent meeting of City and Transportation, guess how people  got to the meeting – with an automobile.

Why? Because there is no bus stop near Granite Manor. The nearest bus stop is 0.4 miles away and these young and healthy transportation officials would not take a walk in our shoes.

It’s appalling when we as taxpayers, along with apartment owners, now nearing the end of our driving days, find that the very transportation system we will rely on to go shopping, attend social functions, and for medical requirements, has not placed the needs of seniors in their planning.

Why are there bus stops near some seniors apartments and yet other apartments  have not had the same  bus stop installed?

To ensure that a fair and equal system applies to all the aging pioneers within the community someone in planning needs to give their head a shake and walk a mile in our shoes.

No one can measure a seniors’ need, from an office chair or from a newly purchased vehicle being ridden in by a younger person who has not been able to measure the  transportation needs of aging seniors.

In city council we have councillor Donna McDonald  who has very  little  concern about a loophole in the transportation system and maintains that more of the same or status quo should not be a problem for seniors.

But we need a bus stop supplied and a proper  installation of a sensible schedule.

 

R. Johnsonn