I am an elderly wheelchair-bound lady who regularly uses the bus system to get around the city. I have found the drivers to always be respectful and helpful. I empathized with them and supported their right to strike.
However, since an event on Saturday, April 14, my sympathies have waned. I had read in the newspapers that a bus strike could have happened on April 16 so I decided to go down town by bus to do my shopping on Saturday. I took an early afternoon bus to my destination, finished my business by late afternoon and went to the bus stop to wait for the bus. I waited and waited, then waited some more.
A couple of people in cars stopped and told me that the buses had stopped running at 4 p.m. I was stranded. I use an electric wheelchair which weighs 400 pounds and I am severely mobility handicapped, so merely phoning a friend to come to my aid is out of the question. I was forced to call a wheelchair accessible taxi, which took one and a half hours to arrive and whose fee was 20 times the cost of a bus ride.
My complaint is that I had no notice that the buses would stop running before the announced time — no posters at the bus stop, no notices on the bus, no “heads up” from the driver who took me down town. If the weather had been what we had experienced just a week ago, I could have been in serious trouble. Luckily there was no harm done other than my general anxiety over the situation I found myself in and getting cold while waiting for the taxi.
Now I have one question: To whom do I send my taxi receipt for reimbursement?
Evie Estey
Whitehorse