Editor:
I tried to be a grown up. Really. With a loving, co-operative heart, I sat at my computer to complete the transit survey (www.translink.ca/tnc) like the good citizen I am.
I started out OK. Nothing alarming. Well, except for that momentary lack of oxygen upon reading “…end the 351 at White Rock Centre.”
I live at the Kiwanis seniors complex near Crescent Beach. The 351 is our only night service.
Keep calm, I said, when the room came into focus. Surely, they wouldn’t leave us stranded. There must be an alternative. There was. The “M” shuttle will go to Crescent Beach.
Whew. I could breathe again. Until I remembered that shuttles stop at 7 p.m. No word if the hours will be extended. My eye started to twitch.
Then I noticed the bus stop at our building on 26 Avenue, up the hill from 128 Street, has disappeared on the new maps. I had to shut down my computer the nausea was so bad.
Back and forth on the phone to TransLink. Everybody here freaking out. People with mobility issues who can’t walk uphill. Unprintable maps, so I can’t show the proposed changes to all the panicky, confused people. A nagging headache starting.
TransLink’s apology a few days later didn’t help much. They made a mistake. The bus stop remains.
Except now we have to go to Crescent Beach before White Rock, maybe sit awhile to keep on schedule or wait for trains to rumble past and, of course, transfer to another bus to get to the rec centre, or the hospital, or Bridgeport Station. And walkers, strollers, wheelchairs and shopping carts facing limited shuttle space.
Forget the whole grown-up thing! I want to have an ear-splitting tantrum, like any sensible two-year-old. The mere mention of the word “transit” makes my head explode!
When they wanted money from us, they ran a full-frontal assault. Now, in the leaf-turning spirit of a good loser, they have generously invited our input before vomiting up a slew of changes to the system.
Except this time we didn’t have months. We had 21 days to untangle the vague, perplexing information. Not a feat for the fainthearted.
I need to lie down.
Maureen Kerr, Surrey
