My transportation story

I am a woman who walks with crutches. I live independently, and I work part-time in Snohomish County. I don’t drive because of my disability, so I have to rely on public/paratransit transportation to get around. While this does allow me to get out, and participate in my community, there are limitations.

Paratransit is described as an accessible form of transportation that aligns with a fixed route bus system within each County. Here in Washington State (Western Washington, specifically), the paratransit bus systems have agreements to arrange for cross-county travel. This has allowed me to travel to work, grocery shopping, as well as being able to get to my needed medical appointments, thus allowing more independence.

As I stated before there are limitations to the system. In order to be able to ride paratransit, one must qualify for the service after a review and statement from medical professionals. In my case, I am unable to walk safely to a bus stop. The system also requires riders to reserve rides by between one to seven days prior to an event. This limits spontaneity in planning last minute trips. The other aspect of the system, paratransit has to align with where and how the buses go around in the community. There are limits to the hours of availability, as well as lack of access to get to a bus. There are many people who are disabled, who, for one reason or another, don’t live where the buses may stop. This affects a person’s ability to be able to work where they wish. It can lead to furthering isolation.

If a person has to travel cross-county, there are often long waiting periods for a bus to arrive to pick up riders, causing many delays, which can affect health issues. Paratransit runs on a scheduled service based on demand by riders needs. Delays in pickups can leave riders stranded often in cold wet weather conditions, and on occasion in the dark. This can be dangerous, leaving many riders vulnerable.

I have had experiences where I have travelled into King County from Snohomish County to attend special occasions. Due to delays in service, as well as inadequate service hours, I have had to miss out on certain events (i.e., a concert) because of how the bus schedules are designed). There have been other times where I have had to cancel plans because of the bus either arriving late for a pickup, or the return was inadequately scheduled (I had to leave my destination within minutes of arriving). If a client misses their ride, for one reason or another, they may not have an alternative to leave.

Many of us who rely on paratransit do not have access to alternative transportation, because of either, cost effectiveness (many individuals are on fixed income) or some public forms of transportation to not have accessible vehicles. Some transportation services do not provide for adequate and safe training on handling wheelchairs, which can lead to damage or injury to a passenger, or driver.

While there have been some improvements, there is still a lot of work to be done. We need more conversations on helping build an all-inclusive community in this area.