A local non-profit businessman is capitalizing on the Progressive Conservative leadership race to raise awareness about a much-needed service.
Paul Siller, executive director of Rocky View Handi Bus (RVHB), which provides transportation for seniors, disabled and immobilized people, sent the six PC leadership candidates a special transportation questionnaire, Sept. 1.
The five-question survey, also sent to leaders of Alberta’s other parties, asked respondents to share their views on the need for the service and provide solutions for Alberta’s cash-strapped transportation groups.
“This is our one window of opportunity to ask questions,” said Siller. “You have to raise a bit of a fuss to get your point across and get people thinking about this.”
Raising awareness is critical because, since 2010, provincial funding for special transportation groups has been axed, according to Siller.
Now, those groups, which serve 100 communities across Alberta, are forced to rely on fundraising, private contracts and municipalities for funding.
For RVHB, which covers 3,000 square kilometres in Rocky View and is projecting 20,000 trips next year, the situation has become critical, said Siller.
“I just don’t know how we are going to keep going 18 months from now,” said Siller.
According to Siller, RVHB operates on a $700,000 budget, one-third of which comes from municipal funding, one-half from school board contract work, and the rest from fundraising and fares.
Despite the lack of funding, there is an acute need for the service, he said.
RVHB provides a ride for people with no other way to get to medical appointments and financial meetings and personal care services, said Siller.
“In Cochrane, we are getting five new names per month,” said Siller. “The boomer generation is aging.”
Crossfield resident Bernice Chissell said the service was vital when her husband was sick with cancer.
“We couldn’t have managed without the handibus,” she said. “My husband... was too sick to drive, and I can’t drive in Calgary.”
Drivers often went out of their way for her and her husband, Chissell added.
Siller said RVHB delivers patients for essential services, such as cancer treatment or dialysis, keeping people out of hospitals and saving the Province millions.
“I would like to see the government... put a modest investment into this type of transportation,” said Siller. “There are economic studies that show it repays them five-fold.”
Siller said the province-wide system needs between $15 and $20 million, which he calls “a drop in the bucket” when compared to other expenditures. He added that money would translate into $75 million in saved health-care costs.
Despite providing the leadership candidates with a Sept. 7 deadline, Siller received responses from only two. Alison Redford responded with a completed questionnaire, while Doug Horner said he was too busy.
Siller said he wasn’t surprised, although he found the lack of interest “unsettling.”
Redford’s response, along with other possible late submissions, will be posted at rockyviewbus.blogspot.com
