People in both Colchester and Cumberland Counties who need help with personal transport stand to gain from several hundred thousand dollars in funding announced by the province in Truro Friday.
Finance Minister Karen Casey announced the funding in Truro Friday. The Colchester Transportation Cooperative Ltd is receiving $172,494 and the Cumberland County Transportation Society is getting $213,749 in provincial monies, which can be used to buy new vehicles for increasing numbers of clients.
“We’re really appreciative. The increase we have received this year is going to help us consolidate – our organization has grown by leaps and bounds in the last three years. We started out just having two buses on the road on a regular basis and now we very seldom have less than three on the road each day,” said Susan Taylor, manager of the Colchester Transportation Cooperative Ltd.
Her Amherst counterpart Helen Sims said that her clients include everyone from dialysis patients to seniors and those on daycare trips. Other people who need transit in both counties may include students and people who need to get to work but suffered a vehicle breakdown.
While their vehicles are wheelchair accessible, users do not have to have a disability to use such services in either county.
Both the CTCL and CCTS transport clients of all abilities all over their respective counties as well as to places elsewhere such as Halifax or New Glasgow. The CCTS also takes clients to Moncton if needed.
However, vehicles need to be maintained regularly – and the costs can easily rack up. Last year, the CCTS drove its fleet 261,000 km to help its clients.
“We’ve had a challenging few years – we had five vehicles – we’re down to three,” said Sims. “Repairs have been crazy the last few years. With the [Accessible Transportation Assistance Program] funding, it means we’re able to purchase two vehicles this year, so our fleet will be back up again.”
The CCTS’s clientele has grown 17 per cent over the last three years, putting even more pressure on its fleet, a similar situation faced by the CTCL.
“Sometimes people don’t understand that they can take advantage of a service and so making sure that variety of users is well known and people will see themselves as one of those potential users,” said Casey.
Nova Scotia’s Accessible Transportation Assistance Program allows both organizations and municipalities to apply for funding towards the purchase of accessible vehicles. The provincial Liberals increased the program's budget by more than $450,000 in the 2018-19 budget.
All told, more than 20 municipalities and organizations received community transportation funding on Aug. 3. A list of all the organizations receiving grants and full program descriptions is available at https://novascotia.ca/dma/funding/community-grants-and-programs.asp.
