Bus tutorials aim to help seniors regain independence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/05/2010 (5680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Laura Bangs stopped driving her car a year and a half ago, she suddenly found herself relying on friends and family for transportation.

“I have one friend who has been absolutely wonderful. She takes me to get groceries and to my medical appointment,” said Bangs, who lives in St. Vital.

Bangs, who is in her early 80s, said her daughter-in-law has also been a great help by driving her around — but, without a car, Bangs said she feels less independent.

“I don’t like being a nuisance,” she said, explaining that she rarely asks friends for a ride. Taxis are too expensive, she added, and Handi-Transit can’t always accommodate her needs.

“I like to be independent very much so,” Bangs said. “I want to go where I want, when I want.”

The ideal solution is the bus, she said, but understanding route information has proved to be a headache.

“I know how to catch the bus across from my apartment building, but besides that I’m lost,” she said.

That’s why Bangs signed up for the bus tutorial being offered on June 1 at the Youville Centre by the volunteer-driven Transportation Options Network for Seniors, or TONS.

The Youville session is one of nine tutorials that compose a pilot project between TONS and Winnipeg Transit.

Lisa Tinley, the co-ordinator for TONS, said the network strives to help older adults who have stopped driving continue to participate in the community.

“When you don’t have appropriate housing and transportation options, those are huge (risks) for social isolation,” she explained.

Tinley said Winnipeg Transit provided data on areas where bus ridership among seniors was particularly low, which highlighted St. Vital, Fort Rouge, Keewatin/Inkster and River East.

Karen Irvine, resource co-ordinator for the Boni-Vital Council for Seniors, said she’s not surprised St. Vital was pinpointed as an area of need.

The senior population is “growing in leaps and bounds” in the neighbourhood, she said, with a number of assisted living and 55-plus housing complexes popping up along St. Anne’s Road.

“They’ve never used the bus before, many of them,” Irvine said.

Gwen Carroll, who attended a tutorial in East Kildonan last month, said she’ll likely give up driving this winter because of her arthritis.

“I’m looking at taking the bus, not for appointments, but just to get out of the house,” said Carroll, who is in her 70s.

And though she took the bus often when she was working, Carroll said being in crowds makes her uneasy now.

“I was a little fearful about taking the bus,” she confessed, before adding the tutorial allayed many of her fears.

“I was pleased to see I could take my walker," she said. “It just gives me another avenue of independence.”

Jonathan Borland, transit information supervisor with Winnipeg Transit, said the concerns of Carroll and Bangs are common among seniors.

“These are the kinds of barriers that people build up that prevent them them from taking the bus,” he said.

The bus tutorials themselves are divided between a 45-minute presentation and a 30 minute trip on an actual bus.

“When they can get a really hands-on  feel for these new features, they’re far more likely to try them later on,” said Borland. “Regardless of age, no one wants to go out and not look like they know what they’re doing.”

Participants will be given a one-month bus pass — “to reinforce the knowledge,” said Tinley — and will be surveyed after two months to see whether their ridership has increased.

Both Tinley and Borland said they hope a positive increase in ridership will lead to a permanent bus tutorial program.

Those interested in participating in a bus tutorial may call Lisa Tinley at 668-6299. The remaining sessions are at the following locations:

•  May 25 – Gwen Sector Senior Centre  (1588Main Street)
• June 1 –  Youville Centre (Unit 6 – 845 Dakota Street)
•  June 8 – 64 Nassau
•  June 15 – Fort Rouge Leisure Centre (625Osborne Street)
•  June 22 – Brooklands Senior Centre (1960 William)       
•  June 29 – Garden City – Health and Social  Services Centre (1050 Leila)

arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com