qathet’s
car / bus
dilemma BY PIETA WOOLLEY
Owning a car is expensive. Buying it, fueling it, insuring it, maintaining it and fixing it when it breaks: these are hundreds-of-dollars-a-month costs. In most places in BC, people who cannot afford a car, are too young to drive, don’t have a driver’s license, or have a disability that prevents driving, are able to take public transportation – such as a bus – to work.
But here in qathet, the bus isn’t a realistic solution for many people. For example, the Stillwater bus doesn’t run Thursdays or Sundays at all. It’s the only bus serving people living south of Pacific Point Market. To catch the bus from Saltery Bay, you have to call ahead, and can only catch it twice a day… but not on Thursdays or Sundays. The last bus serving south of town leaves Town Centre Mall at 5:40 pm four days a week (or 2:30 pm Saturdays). Anyone working past then – or Thursdays and Sundays - in retail, health or hospitality is out of luck. When qathet Regional District chair Patrick Brabazon was first elected to represent Area A (north
Make your bathroom safer
of town) – back in 2005, there was no bus. He was shocked, because he witnessed widespread poverty there. Indeed, Lund has Powell River’s lowest incomes. The median family income for the lower-earning half of Lund families is just $27,105, or $2,259 a month – before tax. Half of families there, in other words, realistically can’t afford a car. “Lund residents wanted a bus service so they could get to work in the morning, make a living and come home at night,” Patrick said. He and others lobbied the Province to co-fund a bus, and secured two-days a week service to Lund. After years of advocacy, a third day will soon be added. Now the people who elected him can catch a bus
But you can help
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• February 2021 • prliving.ca
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