Since the onset of chronic pain when I entered my 30s, walking to the bus stop meant suffering before I even got on the bus. I became a client of Access-A-Bus for the second time this spring. I needed a better way to manage my schedule without unnecessary fatigue, and after hearing more positive reviews, decided to re-apply to Access-A-Bus.
The bus is much more convenient than standard Halifax Transit service, because it shows up at your door and drops you off at your destination, and as a client-based service, there are far fewer stops along the way. However, accessibility often comes with complications.
If you need a ride, Transit encourages booking seven days in advance. While important medical appointments can be booked three months ahead, spur-of-the-moment trips are unrealistic, as same-day or day-in-advance bookings are based on a waiting list.
Can you remember the last time you planned more than a day or two ahead? I have to call early on Monday to schedule my bus for the following Monday. (The later it is, the fewer pick-up time options.) Transit passengers who require accessibility have little choice but to sacrifice the spontaneity of catching a bus to wherever we might want to go. There is a subscription service available through Access-A-Bus, but it can be a waiting game.
On the days I have a ride scheduled through Access-A-Bus, I lose valuable time. I once booked the bus for a 9:45am appointment, and due to availability along with the 30-minute pick-up window, the arrival times I was given were anywhere between 8 and 8:30am. I have also been an hour early for work and the last one to leave. It’s a far cry from regular transit service, where you have several different bus and route options. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Accessible transit works differently in other provinces. Take Oakville’s care-A-van. Working in conjunction with the local taxi service, it has a booking app and a subscription service that can be set up through calling a week before your first regularly scheduled trip. You are only required to be outside waiting 10 minutes ahead of your pick-up time.
HandyDart in Vancouver also books one week in advance, and offers passengers the option to take bookings prior to 4pm the day before their ride. The pick-up window is the same as Access-A-Bus, but also includes reminder calls about your ride the day before and prior to the bus’s arrival, allowing for last-minute cancellations as needed.
While larger provinces may have more resources, Halifax has a smaller population, meaning less passenger demand. But Access-A-Bus could at least have its own app to keep track of rides and cut down on waiting times.
Adding more Access-A-Bus buses in Halifax would also make an incredible impact on the availability of accessible transportation, meaning more scheduling flexibility for trips of immediate necessity.
So let’s bring back the true meaning of accessible transportation—operating a service that ensures equal benefits for able-bodied and persons with disabilities alike.
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This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2018.
Yes, you are completely correct about the service, it could be much better. It would also be much more expensive. A-A-Bus is not paired with the local taxi company,and it is also NOT a taxi, although some passengers seem to think it is,and expect it to transport them as if it was. Transit (A-A-B) has many internal issues but it does carry more passengers per vehicle than most cities in Canada. I spoke with a client from Vancouver BC,and he told me they have service from 8 am to 9 pm, 5 days a week and if you expect to be on the service, you have to be disabled, in a chair or missing a limb. (as he described it) In Halifax, the service runs from 5 am to well after midnight, 7 days/week and it is quite liberal as to whom can become a client. For the size of our city, A-A-B has a huge ridership and very demanding streets to navigate. The operators are some of the most professional people you can ever meet and if anyone tells you differently, they are part of the less than 1% that gives A-A-B, 100% of their problems. Certainly the service could be better, but that will only come about trough positive change from knowledgeable information. It was suggested to Transit that A-A-B operate smaller vans for single or ambulatory clients and operate it as a disability service that could go on a moments notice like a taxi but it was not acted upon. Its not perfect but it is much better than most cities in Canada.
Transit need to serve ALL its residents, reasonably. Having to book a week ahead is not reasonable. Please improve this service by adding more buses. City Hall ends up with surpluses most years – please consider putting it directly into services for those that are more vulnerable.
The 2 examples you gave also have seven days prior for bookings also your comparing different citties to a city ( Halifax ) , Which has terrible infra-structure , hence the 30 min window . Out of all the clients i have driven i would go as far to say that 90% ( just a educated guess as i’m the one out there driving and having conversations with our clients ) are quite happy with the service . As a service they try their best to come and get you when your early , doesn’t always work but you can believe that were out there trying to make it work for the clents .
I am a client of access-a-bus and I cannot use a taxi because I am in a power wheelchair. I am low-income as well. I have to say on the whole the drivers on this bus service are wonderful and some go above and beyond, and just so readers understand they get paid less per hour than the normal transit busses but do more physical work and negotiate more difficult streets. I do not feel anyone would complain about the majority of drivers I think the frustration is in having to book a week in advance and as most disabled people know you have no idea even if you will be well enough in a week’s time. Booking in itself could use some streamlining as you have to be up early and sit continually phoning forever to get thru this is hard when you have not slept well and are in pain. I do think an app would help considerably. However, this is the system and I am grateful we have it. It would also be nice to be kept updated with how the planned improvements of 2017 are going, so we have some hope for the near future. And a bid kudos to the drivers you are such a blessing to us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.