Meeting Update for
May 2006
This newsletter/update is to keep members of CAN, or interested
parties, up to date on our monthly meeting, what we discussed, what our
plans are for the upcoming month, and any other pertinent information
covered during the meeting. We understand that not everyone is able to
attend a monthly meeting and hope that this will keep those interested
in CAN in the loop. Please let us know if you have any questions or
comments concerning our meetings and/or this update by e-mailing us at [email protected], or by phoning (604) 466-8771.
Thank you for you
interest. Your ideas, suggestions, and input will help to create
positive change in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Together we CAN!
May has been a productive month for Citizens for Accessible
Neighbourhoods. We continue to work towards improving accessibility,
and awareness of accessibility in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. We
thank you for your support and feedback and look forward to continuing
in our successes.
During May Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods was contacted by The
Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Times newspaper for an article concerning
accessibility on the buses. A lady, who uses a scooter, was stranded
when a new shuttle bus had a malfunctioning ramp. She was told by the
driver to cross the street and catch the other bus, which was going in
the opposite direction but would get her to her destination. She
scooted to the curb cut, crossed the street, and then went to the other
bus to be told that the driver had loaded everyone already and would
not be able to let her on. In the end she had to call an accessible
taxi which cost four times what the bus ride would have. The reporter
asked if this was an isolated incident or if CAN knows of other
incidents. The article had the contact information for CAN and for the
two weeks following the article we received several calls from people
who had had experience similar problems with the service of the Coast
Mountain Buses.
The information that CAN gained from speaking to those who had
experienced problems with the accessibility of the bus system in our
two communities will be very useful for the letter that will be sent to
Translink and Coast Mountain Bus early next week. Several of the
people that have contacted CAN explained that they no longer are able
to rely on the transit in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows due to the
inconsistency of the ramps. It was disheartening to hear how many
people have experienced problems. Many of the problems boil down to
communication. The majority of the people who experienced
accessibility problems with the buses tried to contact Translink for a
response but were unable to talk with a person who might be able to
help.
CAN will be finishing the letter to Translink this week. We will send
it out next week and we hope to hear from Translink by the end of the
month. We look forward to hearing from Translink, and Coast Mountain
Bus, what their policies are regarding accessibility, communication
with frustrated patrons, and what their plans are for the future.
Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods continues to get positive
feedback regarding their web site. The ‘Current CAN Project’ page has
been under construction and should be up by the end of next week.
As always, if you know of any organizations, support groups, or
upcoming events that are not listed on the web site please let us know.
We look forward to continuing to work on our web site and supplying
people with a one stop site for information about our two communities.
CAN will not be having meetings during summer. We do hope to continue
to get the word out about CAN and if you have any ideas as to how we
can let more community members know about our organization please let
us know.
CAN was contacted by a committee member for the Seniors’ Centre
Information Day, and asked to participate in the event. The first full
week in June is Seniors’ week. The Seniors’ Activity Centre in Maple
Ridge will be putting on an all day event on June 5th that allows all
the various organizations in Maple RIdge and Pitt Meadows to set up
tables and let the seniors know about what is available in the two
communities. CAN was asked to have a table at the event and we are
honoured to be asked. We will have information at our table about our
organization, as well as someone to answer any questions. We also plan
on having a set of Adaptive Boccia balls so that community members can
see how Adaptive Boccia balls are different from regular Boccia balls.
We hope to promote the Adaptive Boccia we will be starting in the fall
in Pitt Meadows.
This event will also be a great networking event for CAN, as we can
let the organizations present know about our web site. We hope to get
some more listings from the event.
We look forward to getting the word out about CAN. We also hope to
find out if there is enough interest to have a meeting at the Seniors’
centre, starting in the fall. This meeting would probably be during
the day so it would be separate from our regular meeting.
We at CAN hope you have a great summer. While we will not be having
any more meetings until September please let us know if you experience
any accessibility problems within the two communities. While we won’t
be attending meetings we will continue to work towards improving the
accessibility in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
We welcome any feedback concerning CAN’s goals, projects, and/or this
newsletter. If you know of anyone interested in joining CAN,
volunteering, or receiving the newsletter please let them know about
our web site www.canbc.org, and pass on our contact information: e-mail [email protected], phone number (604) 466-8771.
Thank you for you interest. Your ideas, suggestions, and input will
help to create positive change in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
We will be breaking for the summer. We look forward to seeing you in
September when we resume with our meetings.
Remember together we CAN!