By: Diane Benjamin
I had the unfortunate experience of needing to drive around Bloomington today. I decided to actually look for the Connect Transit flags signifying a stop.
Head west on Lincoln from Veterans Parkway. There are so many flags a bus could probably idle between them!
The only one I saw that might be considered ADA compliant was at Myerling. All of the rest aren’t close to being accessible by someone with difficulty walking.
A lot of people ride the bus because they aren’t able to drive. If mobility issues make the bus a necessity they must have a safe place to get off the bus.
I only took one picture – from outside my car:
This is Prospect a block north of Washington. (This road didn’t rate resurfacing 🙁 )
There is no sidewalk, so where are people suppose to disembark to? Cross the street to the sidewalk there? Why isn’t the flag across the street?
Connect Transit obviously only wants riders who don’t need special accommodation. People on fixed incomes can’t afford the small mobility buses for frequent use.
The purpose of public transportation in Bloomington-Normal isn’t the same as public transportation in Chicago. The first job of Connect Transit should be serving people without any other transportation.
Those people seem to be last on the list.
Thank WJBC and the Pantagraph for not doing stories. They had reporters present last Friday. https://blnnews.com/2019/05/26/if-the-media-doesnt-report-it-didnt-happen/
They heard the stories of people unable to ride the bus. They heard the stories of discontinued and changed routes. They heard the stories on fare increases. They heard the stories of being ignored by Issac Thorne and the Connect Transit Board.
The taxpayers of Bloomington-Normal have been forced to pay higher sales taxes to fund what Renner and Koos have created. You deserve to have a say in how public transportation operates. The people Renner and Koos have appointed to the Connect Transit Board represent the failed policies both support. Everybody deserves better than huge empty buses, solar panels, continuing violations of being ADA compliant.
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My mom,who uses a walker to get around , was once told by a driver to carry her walker down the steps of the bus because it “took too long to use the lift”. How’s that for customer service? Never mind the fact that getting up and down steps is almost impossible and down right insane when having to drag a walker down steps. The whole purpose of the lift was to make it easier for the disabled customers. At the time she lived at Anglers. The bus driver was told to stop and drop in the grass. The stop is only a few feet from the driveway but stop in the grass is what he was told to do. Now imagine if you will, an elderly person in a wheelchair trying to get on/off the bus at Anglers,and yes there are w/c bus users. Have you ever tried to wheel a wheelchair in the grass? The snow? My guess is Disconnect director not king Tari have never done so or there would be better stops. The violation of ADA compliance is BLONO wide and unless a group gets together with a lawyer and threatens to sue,the violations will be here till hell freezes over. Oh by the by, the residents in Anglers got a petition together with over a hundred signatures to get a shelter, and what do you know, Disconnect blew them off .
I’ve seen a pic of a shelter not connect to a sidewalk. No way to get to it for anyone with trouble walking. It wasn’t big enough for a wheelchair.
I’ve heard from drivers who do care, they are prevented from above doing anything better.
The “TRANSIT” system here is an ABSOLUTE JOKE and should be ABOLISHED! I’ve ridden the public transit in MANY places for various reasons, and NEVER seen or HEARD of ANY drivers here doing what drivers in OTHER areas have done. For instance. Car broke down in Wichita once while staying at hotel, rode the bus, and driver actually WAITED 3 minutes for the connecting bus to take me RIGHT THERE!
Bellingham, Washington, rode the bus to “see the harbor and sights” driver didn’t have any other riders at the moment, as it was his SLOW time of day, so he drove me out by the harbor.
Tucson, Arizona, rode to a show, driver told me WHAT busses I needed to catch, offered me a TOKEN good for the evening ride and even told me a good “local” place to eat.
Praha, Czech, driver dropped my friends and I off NOT at the designated stop but RIGHT AT the steps of the Narodni Museum in the pouring rain..
ALL of these systems have “hubs” and shelters for people to escape the elements, and SMALLER busses, except Praha!
Drivers here are just “PUTTING IN” their time! One or two MAY help regulars, but that’s RARE!