With one stroke of a pen BC's Premier, Christy Clark, can solve this crisis, created by government itself,  and restore proper funding levels so that the fundamental needs of seniors, the ill,  & the physically challenged may be met. 

While the government's at it, Handy Dart should be operated by a local Bc compasny, not a US one.  Keep our money in BC! 

Since 2001, funding for Trans Link and many other services and programs for BC's seniors, children, & handicapped have been reduced to the point that people simply cannot get timely & safe transportation from their homes to anywhere they might need or want to go, including medical appointments.  Funding is now so low that Trans Link does not have the capacity in terms of vehicles, staff to operate and fulfill its purposes.    People are told to book trips several days in advance, and put on waiting lists, only to learn that no Handy Dart vehicle will come for them.  People are being told to take a taxi, which is not equipped or staffed to the calibre necessary to provide the services Handy Dart users need.  Stakeholders seem to agree that the demands for Handy Dart users will continue to rise for the foreseeable future as the population ages.  Tran Link itself says it recognizes the growing demand for its services, but its present financial situation does not allow for an expansion of services.

The HandyDART Riders Committee has released an internal memo from the Coast Mountain Bus Company — obtained through a freedom of information request — that apparently shows that the number of HandyDART trip denials has increased 670 per cent since 2008.

The group says the cuts in services are hurting vulnerable people that depend on HandyDART to get around Metro Vancouver.

“There are requests from medical practitioners where we have to visit another doctor the following day, and [HandyDART] would make room for that. That is impossible now, you have to plan. You have to plan at least seven days in advance,” says Bet Tuason, a member of the committee.

According to the document released by the group, there were 4,876 trip denials for riders in 2008. In 2012, that number reached 37, 690.

Eric Doherty, an independent transportation planner who authored a new report called “Metro Vancouver’s Aging Population and the Need for Improved HandyDART Service,” says funding has not kept pace with demographics.

“Over the last five years the population of people over 70 in Metro Vancouver has increased by two and a half times that of the general population and funding for HandyDART service has not kept pace,” Doherty says in a release issued by the committee.