Six years ago, Bruce Matthews' life was changed in an instant.
While vacationing in Costa Rica, Matthews got caught in a giant ocean wave, one big and strong enough to snap trees in its path. His journey to recovery has been a long one. Last month, he underwent his sixth surgery, this time on his feet.
Bound to a wheelchair and needing to visit Vancouver for checkups with specialists, the Squamish resident faces a different set of challenges - transportation.
No volunteer service in Squamish drives medical patients to the Lower Mainland for appointments. Greyhound doesn't have a ramp for wheelchairs, Matthews said, and B.C. Transit's Handy-Dart, a service for people who have disabilities that are sufficiently severe that they can't use conventional transit, doesn't make the trip into the city.
"It is funny that people don't see this as a priority," Matthews said. "The need is even greater than I ever imagined."
Squamish has an aging population and a young, active community, both of which are vulnerable to accidents, he noted. Most medical specialists are in Vancouver, so if you don't have someone to drive you there, you'll end up in a difficult situation, Matthews said.
Matthews would like to see Handy-Dart run a service to Vancouver once or twice a month. That would allow people to book appointments to align with rides, he said. Matthews said he has talked to B.C. Transit to no avail.
Handy-Dart's service scope is worked out by the District of Squamish with recommendations from B.C. Transit, the Crown corporation's spokesperson Joanna Linsangan said. However, B.C. Transit is undergoing a review of Squamish's services.
The review will examine the future of Squamish's "conventional" transit system such as public buses, Linsangan said. That doesn't mean residents with concerns about services such as Handy-Dart aren't invited to voice their concerns, she said.
B.C. Transit plans to hold a couple of open houses in December. Information from those meetings will be compiled in a report.
"It gives [people] an opportunity to talk to Handy-Dart too," Linsangan said.
During the same time period, B.C. Transit will post an online survey Squamish residents can fill out. The report should be complete early next year, she said.
Mayor Greg Gardner encourages people seeking changes to local transit to get involved with the review. Residents don't have to wait until the public hearing to voice their opinion, he noted. They can send their information to provincial Crown agency or to the district, Gardner said.
