HandyDART users are calling for changes to how the service is run.
About a dozen HandyDART users gathered outside TransLink’s head offices in New Westminster this morning to demand improvements to the service. They say they continuously have to deal with long wait times, trip denials and booking issues.
HandyDART is a door-to-door, shared ride service for passengers with physical or cognitive disabilities who are unable to use public transit without assistance.
Documents released in 2014 showed passengers living with disabilities were denied service more than 42,000 times in 2013 alone.
“Having to book seven days ahead of time to make an appointment, no one I know, able-bodied or otherwise, can live their life seven days ahead of time,” says Beth McKellar with HandyDART Riders’ Alliance.
In 2014, TransLink committed $1 million to provide over 30,000 additional taxi rides for HandyDART customers, but service user Gwen Lee says using taxis is not a good alternative.
TransLink’s current contract with a U.S. company that handles HandyDART ends in 2017 and some users don’t want to see the contract renewed. Instead, they want a public or non-profit organization to run the service.
“To have quality HandyDART service that meets the needs of people with disabilities and older seniors, HandyDART must either be brought in-house as a TransLink subsidiary, or turned over to a non-profit agency,” says HandyDART Riders’ Alliance in a release. “Experience shows private corporations cost more and put profits above quality service.”
With files from Grace Ke
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