Editor: Peter Fassbender recently told Lower Mainland mayors to 鈥渟uck it up鈥� when discussing provincial transit funding.
He subsequently apologized. There is still no promise to increase transit funding except for yet another multi-billion dollar bridge. An apology will be small consolation to the thousands of HandyDART riders that are homebound by lack of funding to this crucial service.
Seniors and people with disabilities should not have to fight for public transportation. The provincial government cinches it purse strings when people with mobility issues ask for funding, but allows tax dollars to be funneled to for-profit organizations.
HandyDART is operated by one such for-profit company.
At the last TransLink meeting HandyDART riders rallied and moved TransLink to do a cost comparison between this service being run by for-profit and 鈥渋n house鈥� operators. TransLink hired an American corporation to do this comparator.
Taxpayers can only hope that their taxes will be put directly into service. Flippant comments by Peter Fassbender are painful to those people who see HandyDART being farmed out to foreign companies and poorly trained taxi companies. People who need HandyDART deserve equality, they should not have to 鈥渟uck it up.鈥�
Mark Beeching,
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