New buses
can take
scooters,
wheelchairs

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

PAM HORTON can ride
the buses once again.

Tie North Vancouver woman
was forced to stop using conven-
tional transit buses about three
years ago. Horton, who has trou-
ble walking, uses a three-wheeled
scooter to get from one place to
another,

“The walk to the bus stop was
becoming increasingly difficult
and the steps on the bus seemed
to be getting higher and higher,”
said Horton. *‘I remember saying
to a friend: ‘if only there was a
way for people with disabilities to
ride the bus." ”*

‘*My friend said: ‘Be patient, it
will happen, eventually. But for
now you better get used to han-
dyDART.”

Well, eventually it did happen.
in fact, it happened this week at
the Lonsdale Quay bus loop in
North Vancouver when B.C.
Transit introduced wheelchair and
scooter-accessible buses.

Accessible service will be avail-
able on 46 of 161 bus routes in
the B.C. Transit system by Dec.
16. A total of 217 buses, 24% of
the Vancouver Regional Transit
system fleet, will then be
wheelchair- and scooter-accessible.

Horton, a member of the North
Shore Advisory Committee on
Disability Issues, has waited a
iong time for the accessible buses.

Horton is also a member of the
Committee to Promote Accessible
Conventional Transit (COM-
PACT); she said the group has
been working since 1989 for the
implementation of accessible
buses.

“COMPACT believes that peo-

ple using all types of mobility aids
must be able to use the service,’”’
said Horton, ‘‘! have been riding
the bus on the two scooter-ac-
cessibie routes in Vancouver for a
month, but today, when I went
out to my old bus stop, got on the
bus and arrived at the Quay, it
was exciting.

“For those of us living near ac-
cessible routes we now have the
freedom to just get up and go. We
don’t have to plan our lives a
week in advance.”

Before the introduction of the
accessible buses, people like Hor-
ton had to rely on the han-
dyDART system and had to pre-
book the vehicles, sometimes one
week in advance.

North Vancouver District
Mayor Murray Dykeman, chair-
man of the Vancouver Regional
Transit Commission,,‘said he was
happy to see the implementation
of the accessible buses.

**Peopie with disabilities say ac-
cessible service is important for

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them because it enables them to
make spontaneous trip decisions,”*
said Dykeman. ‘‘Carrying scooter
passengers is a natural extension
of our commitment to making
transit accessible to people with
disabilities and more people will
be able to take an active role in
the community through this ac-
cessible service enhancement.’’

Currently there are four North
Shore transit routes that are using
the accessible buses: the 229
Phibbs/Westlynn/Lonsdale Quay;
the 230 Upper Lonsdale/Lonsdale
Quay; the 239 Capilano College/
Park Royal and the 240 15th
Street/Vancouver.

Four more routes are expected
to begin accessible service on the
North Shore in mid-December.

TWO-WHEEL ALIGNMENT

NEWS photos Cindy Goodman

RICHARD GLADWIN, 8.C. Transit training instructor, helps Pam
Horton with her safety belts on ane of the new accessible buses
at the Lonsdale Quay bus toon (photo left). Horton will once
again be able to ride the buses thanks to B.C Transit’s new ac-
cessible buses.

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