The Problem with ACCESS CALGARY

How would your life be if you have to rely on handi-bus every day? Let me share with you my experience with handi-bus. I grew up in Airdrie  and there was a handi-bus that serviced Airdrie and surrounding towns. I used that system until I moved to Calgary at eighteen. I like it because they know who I was and my mom was on the board.  Moving to Calgary was a big change for me because the city is so much bigger than where I came from. 

When I first move to Calgary If I wanted to go somewhere I had to book to days in advance. In fact when it came to personal trips such as going for coffee, or to the movie I had to book even further in advance and that's suck because you don't know what you'll do in a week. Now you can book a trip for anything you want one day before, but when you call you have to be on hold for 30-45 minutes. There is a 20 minutes window in which your vehicle will arrive. Often times the drivers will be late because Calgary is so spread out and sometimes there are unexpected accidents and mechanical failure. 

For me I hate waiting but I have no choice and I have to use Access Calgary to get around. Sometimes I go all over Calgary, because the drivers are fallowing this unorganized list of addresses. Even if I'm really close to my home I may go all over in Calgary before reaching my destination. 

Sometimes I can be dropped up at a location a half an hour earlier than I requested. For example, in the morning I booked a trip around 9, and they came to pick me up at 8. 

At the end of the day I'm grateful that I can get out just like everyone else, but I have to believe that we can do better like a community to support those who use this service.