City of Powell River’s Zunga bus will soon have wheelchair access.
At the August 31 committee of the whole meeting, city councillors received correspondence from Dave and Margaret Hodgins regarding the Zunga bus.
In the correspondence, the Hodgins stated the Zunga bus service was implemented with great fanfare on increasing accessibility and transportation options, as well as allowing the mobility-impaired access to the amenities of Powell River.
“It is troubling to find after many weeks of service it still does not allow wheelchair access,” the Hodginses stated.
“How would you, to whom this letter is going, like to be deprived of doing the simple things like visiting your family, going shopping, going to a park or just for fun having an outing. I am sure you would make the changes as you can. They cannot, they need transportation, access to stores and parks.”
The Hodginses stated for the past two years they have lobbied for better accessibility to the community.
“Obviously, the politicians are still not listening,” the Hodginses stated.
Committee chair councillor CaroleAnn Leishman said the Hodginses had a question about when or if the Zunga bus would become wheelchair accessible. She said she believed there was a plan in place.
Chief administrative officer (CAO) Russell Brewer said the Zunga bus is a pilot project until the end of the calendar year.
“The intent would be if and when it did carry on, ideally, it would be accessible,” said Brewer. “It’s a challenge staffing them, of course, and reminder from staff would be that it still is a pilot.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott said she would like to receive the correspondence and she asked for an update. She said council voted for extra funding so that there could be two Zunga buses and they could go to extra locations throughout the city.
“I wouldn’t mind an update as to where we are with all that,” said Elliott.
Brewer said the extent of the update he could provide is the second bus arrived August 31. He said the sustainability planner intends to come to the committee to provide an update on the pilot and how it’s going.
Elliott asked when people in areas of the city not currently being accessed by the Zunga bus could expect service. Brewer said he could not provide a precise update because the bus had just arrived, so there’s some outfitting to do.
“I’ll try and get an update on the timeline and let council know,” said Brewer.
Councillor George Doubt said he wanted to make sure he heard the CAO’s update on accessibility regarding the Zunga bus correctly.
“I think what you said was the intention was if it is extended beyond the pilot, it would become wheelchair accessible,” said Doubt.
Brewer said ideally, the city could make it fully accessible before the conclusion of the pilot project but there is a challenge with staffing them and getting procedures in place to make them available.
“So, for the length of the pilot, it will not be wheelchair accessible,” said Doubt.
Leishman said her impression from the sustainability planner was that the new bus has a simple fold-out wheelchair ramp so it will be easy for any driver to use it without the extent of the transition that had to happen on the original bus.
“I think it will be much easier with the new bus once we get it up and running,” said Leishman.
Councillors voted in favour of receiving the correspondence.
Later in the meeting, Brewer said he heard from the sustainability planner.
“Wheelchair accessibility is intended to start mid-September,” said Brewer. “That’s the plan with the second bus arriving.”
Mayor Dave Formosa requested that a letter be written to the Hodginses, letting them know about the fact there will be wheelchair availability with the new bus.
