An announcement from Calgary Transit on Nov. 28 about the closure of Access Calgary’s Handi Bus operations has caused a bit of confusion for the Rocky View Regional Handi Bus Society.
“We have a similar name, but we are not really related,” said Rocky View Regional Handi Bus Society Executive Director Paul Siller. “Sometimes, people think a handibus is a handibus and everything is the same, but we are fine and dandy and will continue to operate within the county.”
According to Siller, following the announcement, the Society received three phone calls within one hour on Nov. 28, inquiring if the Rocky View Handi Bus was shutting down.
“That sort of alerted us to what was going on, but we do get confusion about handibus services pretty regularly,” Siller said. “Many people in Calgary seem shocked that they can’t use Access Calgary to go visit their family in Didsbury.”
Other people, Siller said, relocate within Rocky View County (RVC) and can no longer receive bus access to get their children to school. Unfortunately, the Rocky View Regional Handi Bus Society doesn’t have the resources to provide those services.
The main goal of the society is to provide community transit services to people with special transit needs, and operates buses throughout the county – not within the City of Calgary.
“I tell people who call with questions about local bus service to contact their local municipal office,” Siller said. “Each municipality really does things on their own. I always appreciate the families who call ahead, who do their research before they need the service.”
Residents can also contact the Rocky View Regional Handi Bus Society at their Airdrie office at 403-948-2887 or [email protected].
“Whenever things like this happen, I look at it as a sign of how everyone thinks it’s all one and the same thing, but it’s not,” said Siller.
