Pilot project | Grants and donations give seniors more independence
BASHAW, Alta. — Eva Schiera was a woman on a mission when she recently climbed aboard the Battle River Bus from Bashaw to Camrose.
Her first stop was Walmart for some shopping and then over to Dollarama and Sobeys to stock up on groceries and supplies before an operation at the end of May.
The Battle River Bus is an important link from Bashaw to the surrounding communities for Schiera, who doesn’t drive.
“It’s the only transportation I have,” said Schiera, who thinks she will use the service twice a month.
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Organizers hope the bus service will link small towns and villages within the Battle River area.
Vera Jackson also plans to use the bus service twice a month. As a senior living in the village of Ferintosh, Jackson relies on others to “bum a ride” to Camrose.
Jackson, who lost her driver’s licence because of poor eye sight, plans to use the bus service for visiting friends, medical appointments, shopping and banking.
“It gives you a good feeling of independence when you can get out and go yourself,” she said during a celebration of the bus service.
Lack of transportation has been identified as one of the biggest barriers for seniors and others who live in small rural communities and don’t drive, said Jane Ross, president of the Association for Life-wide Living of Alberta, the umbrella group that organized the rural transportation demonstration project.
The association is using grants and donations to figure out how the bus service will work most efficiently.
The bus now leaves Bashaw every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. with pickups at Ferintosh, Edberg, New Norway, Duhamel and Camrose. It leaves Camrose for the return journey at 3 p.m.
Ross wants the bus to be used for tours of the region or educational events, but her long-term goal is for it to connect with other similar buses in other communities.
“They’re not linked together. Many of the vans are sitting quietly most of the time, or they are underused. People in the community don’t realize they can be used for things other than health services,” said Ross.
“There is real potential for a larger connectivity.”
Camrose County reeve Don Gregorwich said his municipality supported the project because it answered a need in the area.
“Some of our residents can’t easily get around. It seems only fitting that we offer this service to them,” he said.
Paintearth County reeve George Cloutier hopes to learn from the demonstration project.
His county has two handivans in Consort and Coronation that are underused.
He sees them being used more for taking residents to medical appointments, shopping or touring light displays at Christmas.
“This model could be used anywhere in rural Alberta or Saskatchewan,” said Cloutier.
He envisions the nearby communities of Stettler and the Special Areas working together to promote the use of their handivans as a way to in-crease independence for rural residents.
Cloutier said the biggest problem is finding drivers for the handivans. The ideal candidates are retired or semi-retired residents who like to drive. Battle River organizers hope to promote their service over the next year and find the most efficient way to operate it. The association eventually wants to create a region-wide system of local buses in a regional transportation network.
Peggy McFadyen, councillor with the Town of Provost, said the challenges are no different on the east end of the province, especially with the loss of the Greyhound passenger bus service two years ago.
Both young and old community members struggle to find rides to medical or eye appointments in the larger centres. McFadyen said they plan to use a similar model to maximize the use of their small buses for residents.
“We are about to fix that,” said McFadyen.
Ted Wigglesworth, a member of the Bashaw and District Health and Wellness Foundation, said transportation has become a major issue for community members.
“When you live in rural Alberta and lose the ability to drive, it’s devastating,” he said.
“In this province, if you don’t drive, you can’t get there.”
Patricia Macklin, a senior project co-ordinator in Alberta Agriculture’s rural initiatives and research branch, said the government is interested in rural transportation issues because of its links to “aging in place.”
“A lot of people want to stay in their home,” said Macklin, who believes this model could spread across the province as a way to use existing handivans and other small buses to increase independence.
“We know this is an issue and know its importance and want to keep our finger on the pulse of what is going on,” she said.
