Merging Thunder Bay’s handicapped bus service with city transit has Cal Rankin worried the plan won’t meet the growing demand of residents with disabilities.
Rankin, executive director for HAGI Community Services for Independence, said he’s not sure what is going to happen now when city administration gives its report to council at Monday night’s meeting.
Administration will be presenting council with a report that will recommend council not renew its contract with HAGI and instead its services will be taken over by the city completely.
The specialized transit, which started in 1975, is funded by both the city and the province and operates a budget around $2.3 million and has more than 3,000 clients.
Rankin said the majority of their funding comes from the city but they have been under funded for some time. He said he plans to go before council once they have adopted the report in principle.
“Right now the system that we have is not working all that well,” Rankin said.
“It has been an unfunded system for the past four or five years. It’s not as effective as it could be. My concern is huge about this whole initiative because I believe it is all about saving money in the long term. The demand is absolutely growing and we see the need to expand the service. I don’t believe that’s what council plan is going to address.”
He said if they were to keep the service, they would need to work closely with council to redesign the current system into one that better meets the demand.
He added that he plans to go before council in order to address his concerns.
