HandiBus closure a blow for some Calgary non-profits: school official

The future of student transportation for Calgary’s Janus Academy has been left in limbo this week, after staff learned the organization that provides vans and buses for its students will be closing in the new year.

The Calgary HandiBus Foundation sent a letter to customers and donors Monday saying the non-profit would close in early 2019 after a few years of struggling to get donations. For more than 40 years, HandiBus has been providing transportation for people with disabilities in Calgary, both through donations to other non-profits and through a partnership with Calgary Transit.

The Janus Academy, a specialized school for children with autism, is one program that’s relied on HandiBus services.

“They’re critical,” the school’s executive director, Carlene Chrumka, told Global News on Tuesday.

“They’re the way that we’re able to get the students to go out and to be doing community-based activity and to be integrated into the community, so they’re a huge part of what we do.”

The academy has 60 children enrolled in its school program and 18 young adults in their adult day program. Along with the about 85 staff members, they have been using two HandiBus vehicles for about four years, Chrumka said.

She said she was sad to get the news on Monday.

“They’ve been a really great supporter of Janus Academy but also just of the community at large,” she said. “Ensuring non-profits that don’t have the capacity to purchase their own vehicles without other support… they’ve been a really key player for providing those for non-profits.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They've been a really great supporter of Janus Academy but also just of the community at large," she said. "Ensuring non-profits that don't have the capacity to purchase their own vehicles without other support… they've been a really key player for providing those for non-profits."

Chrumka said one of the academy’s older, yellow school buses needs to be replaced and now they’ll have to look elsewhere for another donor.

The buses are provided to HandiBus through donations and sponsorships. Donors are recognized with their name or a phrase on the sides of the buses, which Calgary Transit said will remain for the entire time they’re part of the fleet.

“We are pleased to say that about a million dollars will be left behind at The Calgary Foundation,” HandiBus president and CEO Pat Pellegrino told Global News on Tuesday.

“That will be used to help the non-profits in Calgary, to help people with disabilities in transportation areas.”

Watch from May 2015: Calgary Transit is promising a seamless transition taking over HandiBus. Doug Vaessen reports.

Pellegrino said any non-profits hoping to get some of that money can apply through the foundation. He said the company was proud to provide such an essential service in the city.

“It’s meant a lot to us, when we were operating in partnership with the city – it’s been a wonderful partnership and definitely the community has benefited from it.”

HandiBus used to be Calgary’s primary accessible transit option. In 2015, it was taken over by the Calgary Transit and is now more commonly known as Calgary Transit Access.

In the three years since, HandiBus has continued to provide buses for the city, something that will now have to be taken over by city administration. Pellegrino said the organization has provided 16 to 20 buses for the city since 2015.

Calgary Transit director Doug Morgan said it has also purchased buses in that timeframe, but now officials will have to factor all purchasing into their future planning.

“Certainly we’ll have to work that into our fleet plan,” Morgan said. “We’re about to take a budget to council and we believe we have enough funding over the four-year period.”

He added Calgary Transit has always been prepared for the possibility that donations could be low, meaning HandiBus may have a slow year and be able to provide fewer or no buses.

“It’s sad – I think it’s been an excellent partnership,” Morgan said. “The Handibus board and volunteers that put their time forward, they made a great impact in Calgary.”

Morgan said Calgary Transit is open to exploring ways to continue the legacy of helping those who rely on accessible transit around the city.

HandiBus was established in 1971-72. Since then it’s received $28.5 million in donations and purchased 437 buses, the board said. In partnership with the City of Calgary, it’s helped provide more than 16 million trips to riders.