Today's letters: OC Transpo's 'New Ways to Bus' isolates seniors
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OC Transpo has an obligation to support seniors
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I read Bruce Deachman's article with a sense of familiarity. My family is also experiencing the negative impacts of 'New Ways to Bus.'
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My parents live near Merivale Mall in Nepean. My mom (in her 70s) recently had to stop driving for medical reasons. My dad, who is 80 and has stage 4 cancer, still drives, but doesn't always feel up to leaving the house. My mom needs her own ways to get around without relying on my dad.
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My mom stopped driving a couple of months before 'New Ways to Bus.' She began taking the bus again on her own, after not taking it much during the pandemic. She was able to take one bus route from her house to Tunney's Pasture in about 20 minutes, then switch to the LRT to get downtown to meet friends for lunch or go shopping. She could also use that same route to visit shops on Wellington Street West. She enjoyed the ease and freedom of being able to get around without her car.
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Now, the routes near my parents' house have all drastically changed and do not in the least resemble the variations that remained more or less constant over the previous 40 years. There is only one route serving their nearest local bus stop, and it goes to Billings Bridge, not Tunney's Pasture. Google Maps says her route to get downtown would now involve either two buses and the LRT or two very local buses. Otherwise, she can walk 10 minutes to reach the nearest bus that goes to Tunney's Pasture. In either case, her total time to get downtown would likely be 50 minutes to an hour, instead of the previous 30-to-40 minutes. (The drive downtown is about 20 minutes.)
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While the issue raised in the column is clearly more drastic and more disastrous to our local economy, the effects these changes have on seniors such as my mom also warrant attention. There have been countless alarms raised about the epidemic of loneliness among seniors and the importance of empowering them to remain independent as long as possible. Ensuring they can easily use transit to get around when they cannot drive is an essential service that our city must provide to those who have contributed to our community for decades. 'New Ways to Bus' seems to be creating 'New Ways to Isolate Seniors' instead of making it easier for them to get around the city.
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