Seniors and people with disabilities need access to transit. Please sign this petition asking Translink to stop the bus balancing project and to put back the bus stops that were removed.
https://www.change.org/StopExcludingPeopleWithDisabilitiesAndSenoirsFromTransitInVancouver
Thank you for your support.
BUS-STOP FUSS CONTINUES; CITY HALL WEIGHS IN
Dunbar residents may be relaxing after TransLink rescinded plans that would have cut 40 percent of the No. 7 bus stops between 41st and 16th in January, but the larger battle is far from over. The status of some of the saved Dunbar bus stops is unclear, as TransLink’s website says the plan is to “revisit” some of them in the spring “in partnership with the community and the City of Vancouver.” And now concerns are being raised about the large number of stops being cut elsewhere on the route, while Dunbar lost only a few.
Residents speak up concerning removal of bus stops resulting in Translink putting the bus stops back in place.
Signs went up on bus-stop poles along Dunbar Street this week announcing that TransLink has backed off on plans that would have removed 40 percent of bus stops between 16th and 41st as of January 17th.
http://dunbar-vancouver.org/will-a-dunbar-walkabout-change-translinks-plans-to-cut-our-bus-stops/
Thank you for wanting transit to be available for all people in metro Vancouver including seniors and people with disabilities. Translink has started to implement what they are calling the bus balancing project. Translink has already made changes to bus routes #2, #7 and the #4 routes. They have removed many bus stops so now instead of bus stops being 2 blocks apart some of them are now 4 blocks apart. Translink has also removed some bus stops that were convenient and located at busy intersections by having bus stops 4 blocks apart some seniors and people with disabilities can no longer access parts of the transit system. People who have been excluded from the bus balancing project are people who cannot walk 4 blocks due to the physical demand so whether a person is elderly, blind, in a wheel chair, on crutches etc. Translink on their website and in their voice mail messages say bus stop balancing will benefit all people, that they are removing bus stops that are 1 block apart, they will not remove bus stops from busy convenient areas and that bus stops will not be placed far apart because it means transit will not be accessible. This information Translink has put on their website and have presented to the public is false information, it simply is not true. for example of the few bus routes that have already been changed many stops are now 4 blocks apart. If one wishes to check this out you could ride the #2 bus from Broadway and McDonald up to 41st ave and you will witness bus stops being placed 4 blocks apart. Another example is at Vine and 4th on 1 corner is Safeway and the bus stop was right in front of Safeway on 4th, on the other corner is Whole Foods, the third corner is Shoppers Drug Mart and the 4th corner is Browns Social House and the was a bus stop in front of Browns Social House. Those bus stops have been removed and one is placed in a residential area and the other a block and a half away so some seniors and people with disabilities cannot carry their heavy groceries that far to catch a bus so now they have been excluded from transit. The reason Translink gives on their website for implementing the bus balancing project is that a passenger may or could save 250 seconds on a one way trip. Of course they are talking about able bodied people and only if that persons stop has not been removed. As a blind person due to a bus stop being removed I now have to catch an earlier bus so I leave my house 15 minutes earlier and get off at the stop closest to the stop that was removed and I then begin asking strangers on the street to guide me across Broadway so I can get to my transfer point. The bus stop that was pulled out was a transfer bus stop so I did not have to cross a busy intersection such as Broadway which is to dangerous to cross without a guide. I used to shop at Whole Foods but now that the bus stops have been removed I have to get off at a stop earlier and ask a stranger to guide me to Whole Foods and also ask for a stranger to guide me to the bus stop that now is 2 driveways, an extra block and having to cross an intersection. Before the bus stop balancing I was completely independent in both examples given above.
You can help!
Over the next few years Translink will be implementing bus stop balancing on all routes in Metro Vancouver. The bus stop balancing had planned to take out 40% of the bus stops in Dunbar community and there was no consultation. The Dunbar community found out about it because the bus stops were removed and or had signs on them saying they would be removed on a specific date. The Dunbar association took on Translink and Translink was forced to put back all but 2 of the stops. Please read the 4 newsletter articles posted in the Dunbar Association Newsletter at the top of this page to find out the details. Translink then decided to inform some groups such as CNIB about the bus balancing project by sending them an e-mail full of propaganda in which they said they were only removing bus stops that were 1 block apart and that bus stops at busy intersections would not be removed so when I spoke to CNIB about what really is happening CNIB was quite stunned. Let’s not let Translink’s shortsightedness dictate our lack of access to transit. Let’s design a transit system that is accessible for all people and one that is good for businesses and our community at large. Please click on the link below which opens a page on this site where you can e-mail Translink with your ideas on what an awesome transit system looks like to you. please share this site and petition with others. Thank you for your time.
https://busbalancingpetition.wordpress.com/actions-and-suggestions-for-translink/
Stop translink Bus Balancing Project 