When Joanne McLeod received her Order of New Brunswick on Nov. 25 for her decades of advocacy for people with mobility difficulties, she reflected on how much change she’d seen in her life.
“In the dark ages of the 50s when I started, this would have felt like an impossible dream, but there’s a lot now in place,” she said.
But she said there’s still more work to do.
“The big thing I keep coming back to is transportation,” she added.
She said there were limited resources for people with mobility difficulties to use cabs and busses, and travelling between cities is nearly impossible. But Fredericton might now be one step closer to meeting the demand for accessible transit.
The city has announced a new contract for its accessible shuttle system, Para Transit, with a private company, called Pacific Western Transportation.
The contract will come into effect on Jan. 8 and the city’s transit manager, Charlene Sharp, said part of the deal is an increase in the amount of rides Para Transit offers. She said the city is currently offering between 13,500 and 14,000 trips a year. With the new contract, she said the program will offer 15,000 rides.
“The long-term goal is to meet the demand,” she said.
Kathleen Leger is the transportation representative with the New Brunswick Coalition of People with Disabilities.
“It’s great, very glad it’s happening. I do believe, from what I’ve heard, more needs to be done, so be open to growth,” she said.
She said if people have more access to rides, they have more freedom to enjoy time with friends or concerts, and it might allow some people to get a job.
The service in Fredericton is currently offered Monday to Saturday, but a proposal for a Sunday service is up for approval in the city’s 2024 budget. Leger lives in Moncton, where accessible transit is available every day of the week.
“I would love to see what we have here in Moncton available across the province,” she said.
News Related
-
Today, Manitoba announced that it will temporarily reduce costs for farmers using Crown land for grazing, haying and yearly cropping. The measure will bring the reduction rate up to 55 per cent from 33 per cent for the 2024 growing season. Carson Callum, general manager with Manitoba Beef Producers, said ...
See Details:
Manitoba announces reduced rent on agricultural Crown land
-
Small businesses and climate activists are looking at what the province’s newly introduced “gas tax holiday” bill could mean for Manitobans. The bill was introduced Thursday by Finance Minister Adrien Sala, and offers to remove provincial tax from gasoline and diesel. That means 14 cents per litre will stay in ...
See Details:
Who benefits from Manitoba’s ‘gas tax holiday,’ and for how long?
-
Halifax Transit is making a push to tackle what they say has been a growing issue for their workers. During the city’s transportation standing committee meeting on Thursday, Philip Herritt, the director of transit operations for Halifax Transit, outlined a proposal to help address violent incidents happening on buses city-wide. ...
See Details:
Halifax Transit pushes to get safety officers aboard buses and ferries
-
If you’re a listener of QR Calgary on the the AM frequency, the broadcast you typically hear will be unavailable as we do some maintenance on our transmitter towers starting Friday Nov. 24 at 11 p.m. until Saturday Nov. 25 at 5 a.m. This means we’re off the air for ...
See Details:
QR Calgary 770AM will be temporarily off-air for maintenance work
-
-
The city of Saskatoon has approved recommendations allowing for more housing opportunities, hoping to access federal funds and ultimately change what housing looks like in the city. “This is a generational shift in what housing looks like. More people will have access to stable and affordable housing, with walkable services ...
See Details:
City of Saskatoon takes steps to address housing affordability
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Canadian Military trains to extinguish burning helicopters
-
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
Toronto pet owners face ‘excruciating decisions’ in cost-of-living crisis
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
Black Friday weekend kicks off in Kingston
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
City of Regina to select new REAL board of directors during special council meeting
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
Doug Ford says he will waive cabinet privilege in RCMP Greenbelt investigation
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
Pedestrian struck and killed on Highway 3 in southern Alberta
-
The Restorative Action Program in Saskatoon is seeing an increase in demand as students struggle with their mental health. RAP Saskatoon president Leane Durand said their facilitators act as a bridge and are there to listen and offer supports to kids facing conflict. 2:09 Violence against teachers increasing in Canadian ...
See Details:
Ontario watchdog to review new information from Nova Scotia mass shooting inquiry
OTHER NEWS
Those travelling across the Halifax Harbour over the next two weekends can expect a lengthier commute, as the 53-year-old MacKay Bridge will be closed as it undergoes critical repairs. In ...
Read more »
The City of Toronto says it will begin to clear out an encampment in Kensington Market on Friday morning due to it being an “immediate public safety risk.” Russell Baker, ...
Read more »
Residents have been allowed to return home as stabilization works get underway on a rockslide in Penticton, B.C. A rockslide evacuated 25 homes in the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park ...
Read more »
As mundane urban city life churns on around them, a growing population of people are seeking shelter, trying to survive another night. Some are in tents tucked among the trees ...
Read more »
Whether it’s a big box store or online, the Black Friday weekend has been a concern for local businesses. Sarah Amies, executive director of the Downtown Lethbridge Business Revitalization Zone, ...
Read more »
A timber company working on the overdue and over-budget West Kelowna city hall project has filed a civil suit, claiming they’re owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Seagate Mass Timber, ...
Read more »
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has blocked a motion to launch a provincial auditor investigation into the Ministry of Social Services policy on hotel stays. The motion made by NDP social ...
Read more »