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Darryl R Demille Ins Agcy Ltd Darryl Demille CFP Oakville 905-842-1020 www.darryldemille.com Stacey Sutherland Oakville 905-339-3276 www.insuranceinoakville.com Andrew Heideman Oakville 905-829-0018 www.andrewheideman.ca Stephen Ostapchuk Mississauga 905-238-5643 www.stephenostapchuk.ca Angelo Gualtieri Oakville 905-257-7773 www.angelogualtieri.com Daniel Durst Oakville 905-847-1898 www.danieldurst.com Deborah E. Bartucci Oakville 905-337-3276 www.deborahbartucci.ca 11 Friday , D ecem ber 3, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After years of disappointments and delays, the special seniors bus service is once again running right up to the front doors of the 271 Kerr St. Seniors Residence. The special bus service, which is actually provided to various Oakville seniors residences one day a week, takes the 271 Kerr St. seniors to Trafalgar Village, Oakville Place and Hopedale Mall giving them the opportunity to pick up groceries, shop and more. Its been a travel, said Barbara Whitehouse about getting the front door bus service back. Its been a real journey. Whitehouse said prior to 2008, the seniors at the 271 Kerr St. residence had special bus serv- ice six days a week connecting them to shop- ping, medical and recreational facilities. This service was cancelled in 2008 with Transit Director Barry Cole stating at the time that the community bus service was cancelled due to declining ridership. "We've gotten to the point where we're aver- aging just three rides per hour on a service that costs a quarter of a million dollars to operate," said Cole during one 2008 meeting. Many seniors spoke up during this period stating the six-day special bus service needed to be replaced with something. Many seniors with mobility issues saw the special service as preferable to regular public transit because the special service came right to the front doors of the residence. One senior, at the time said, taking regular transit involves walking to the bus stop in front of the residence, something, which can be exceedingly difficult for someone with a walker, particularly in winter when the sidewalk is slip- pery or covered with snow. Wed lose people, said Whitehouse. People just wouldnt go out. Another senior said, at the time, that regular buses, despite most now being low floor accessi- ble, still present seniors with challenges for rid- ing. "On the regular buses there is no place for the walkers," said one woman. "When we try to get on the bus there are women with baby carriages, people with shop- ping carts. Last week, I used the regular bus 14 and they had to lift my walker over two or three other walkers. On a practical level, I don't think this will work." In the end, council voted to reduce the spe- cial bus service to one day a week. We decided to provide targeted service directed to the specific needs of each of the sen- iors residences. Were talking about the Kerr Street residence, the Oakville Seniors Residence on Lakeshore and Knox Heritage along Sixth Line and also the one at 17 Stewart St., said Cole. We met with the residents at each of those locations and we asked them, Where do you pri- marily want to go and what day do you want to go there. They provided us with a list of loca- tions they would most frequently use, they pro- vided us with the days that would be most attractive to them and we constructed routes for each of the residences and have been operating them ever since. Here, too, however there was a problem for the Kerr Street residence. The smaller bus that had previously been used was no longer available and the larger Oakville transit bus could not reach the resi- dences front door. On the first day of the bus coming to the entrance of 271 last November 2009, the bus had trouble travelling over the entrance from the street to the driveway, said Whitehouse. On the second try the same thing happened. Cole said the centre did continue to receive special bus service, but the bus had to park at the curb, which did cause problems for some seniors with mobility issues. This problem was rectified, a few weeks ago, when intervention on the part of Ward 2 Councillor Cathy Duddeck resulted in the Town altering the curb, so the bus could drive up to the residences front doors. With the special bus front door service now in place one day a week, Whitehouse reflected on the advocacy that was needed to get it in place. What they dont realize is were old people. Weve done a lot of things in our lives, said Whitehouse. Im old, but Im young, I dont stand for a lot of nonsense. Front door bus service returns to Kerr Street seniors KAREN NEWMAN / OAKVILLE BEAVER HAPPY RETURNS: Seniors at the Kerr Street Seniors Residence celebrated the return of door-to-door transit service to their complex.