I have plans with my friend and care provider to eat lunch, and check out some local stores. In order to do this I have to arrange transit for this trip. This means that I needed to call them by noon today. I could take fixed route service. Most of the time I don't mind taking fixed route, but I hate taking it to strip mall type areas we are going to here. The reason why is more than one bus goes there. Often it gets confusing to figure out which bus is yours. The bus drivers are supposed to announce what route they are driving often they don't.
Local transit is not bad, Just a bit naive. Transit runs on grants mostly. There are three or four grants transit uses. This is supposed to cover three counties. The grants are usually geared toward getting people to work. This means that transit runs 6 am to 630 pm. Here lies my problem with transit. I can't seem to get rides to do anything fun. Even fixed route stops at 630. So if i were working I would have to take the day off just to have some fun? Not to mention the fact that I can't go anywhere at night. Transit serves more than just people with disabilities. It serves anyone without a car. It also serves the elderly and working poor within our community. As transit looks to improve, I think they need to expand to allow more access to the community. They should have accessible rides to the local civic centers and community venues in our three counties, and local access to the baseball stadium when there are home games or when there are shows going on there.
As I said before I am part of the board for transit. I have put a bug in their ear about this. In the age of flat funding and high gas prices, nothing will be done right now.
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