Special transit service faces overwhelming demand

A woman in Thunder Bay says she's frustrated with HAGI transit, a service that provides transportation to seniors and people with disabilities.

Sheila Jackson, who is doing her student placement at a home for the aged, said the HAGI phone line is so busy, staff at Dawson Court can spend almost an hour trying to get through to plan a ride for a resident.

Jackson said the service books up quickly, and residents sometimes can't get a ride at all.

Part of Jackson’s job is to go with residents on their excursions — things like shopping or bowling.

She said staff call the HAGI transit phone line as soon as it opens at 8 a.m., but still have to dial and re-dial to get through.

"When we're on the phone and they're calling in and calling in … there's not even a line, like a secondary line," Jackson said. "You have to keep re-dialing. It's very frustrating because it takes up … to an hour. It's very disappointing because they see … their friends going and sometimes they don't understand why they can't go."

Al Buchan, the CAO at Hagi transit, said he wants the situation resolved soon — but that means more money is required.

HAGI’s funding, which comes from the city and the Local Health Integration Network, covers about 300 trips a day, but there are more than 8,000 customers.

"Hopefully, if we can just get some more resources and … put more vehicles on the road, that would help."

The manager of Thunder Bay Transit, Brad Loroff, said the city will examine how to improve the service through the city's Transit Master Plan, which is currently in the works.