The future of the Westlock and District Seniors and Disabled bus is starting to take shape with the distribution of a survey looking into the transportation needs of the community.
The survey is the work of the Westlock and District Community Transportation Committee, which formed when it became clear the bus would probably run out of money, said committee chair Kelly Harris-Martin.
Harris-Martin explained the committee is working on ways to keep the service alive in the community, and what form that continued service would take. Anecdotally, she said she knows a large number of riders are seniors and those with mobility issues, but in order to chart the service’s future course, the committee needs to know the usage patterns and demographics.
That’s where the survey comes in.
“The only way we can find out is if we ask the question,” she said. “Maybe it’s not just the seniors. Maybe we are talking about young families, maybe families with only one vehicle, those types of issues.”
Right now, Harris-Martin said the committee is looking at a hybrid service — combining the current on-demand service with the possibility of a set route operating on a regular schedule.
Questions on that survey include how members of a household regularly travel, if household members would use public transportation if it were available, and how much potential riders would be willing to pay for the service.
In order to know just how many people could be interested in utilizing the service in any form, she said the questionnaire is being sent out to all area residents.
To achieve that goal of getting the survey into as many hands as possible, Harris-Martin said it’s going to be included in copies of the March 11 Westlock News and the next Westlock town utilities bill.
It’s also slated to be put in mailboxes in town and several rural communities, as well as at the Pembina and Smithfield lodges. Surveys will also be available at the FCSS office and online at http://goo.gl/2QMVk.
If households get multiple copies, all the better, Harris-Martin said. The deadline to complete and submit the survey is March 29.
Once all the questionnaires have been collected, she said the results will be tabulated and used to map out a plan going forward.
“We don’t want to speculate on what the results are going to tell us. It may come back that the service we have now is functioning and that’s exactly what’s needed. Or, we may uncover a complete other demographic that we were not aware of.”
Even if your responses are that you don’t use the service and would never use it, Harris-Martin said it’s important you fill out the questionnaire. Every answer will help determine what the future will look like.
