Dustin Paul is pulling his shattered life back together again, but transit issues are putting more and more challenges in his way.
Paul, 25, who’s been in a wheelchair since a motorcycle crash six years ago, counted on HandyDart to get him back and forth to criminology classes at Simon Fraser University.
When drivers went on strike Oct. 26, the quadriplegic aspiring lawyer had to trade door-to-door service for a cold, wet wheelchair ride to the Joyce Street SkyTrain station, a lengthy trip to the Production Way SkyTrain station, then a bus ride up the hill to university.
Now even that is up in the air, as notices have just gone up announcing that the elevator he counts on to get up to the SkyTrain guideway will be closed down from Dec. 14 to Jan. 8.
“I’m frustrated with the whole process,” Paul said Sunday in the wheelchair-accessible apartment where he lives alone, struggling to become a productive member of society.
“There’s a lot of fingerpointing going on, and not much else.
“It’s the middle of winter, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of thought going into who their clients are.
“I don’t know why HandyDart isn’t considered an essential service.”
Most of the fingerpointing is being exchanged by Dave Watt, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, who represents the drivers, and John Siragusa, MVT Canada Bus, Inc.’s vice-president of operations, which operates the HandyDart bus service.
In a Dec. 4 newspaper opinion piece, Watt wrote: “Our members did not seek a strike – we would rather be preparing for Christmas than worrying about how we can feed our families. We asked for MVT’s agreement to go jointly to binding arbitration as we were becoming concerned that our passengers are being left isolated, and lacking this vital service.
“We would prefer to engage in free collective bargaining, but in these circumstances, we felt that it was necessary to propose to submit this dispute to a third party, and get the buses rolling while the contract is settled.”
In response, Siragusa fired off a letter to Watt, stating: “The company remains ready to return to the bargaining table and to continue good faith bargaining with the hope of reaching a collective agreement. We believe it is in everyone’s best interest for this to occur. I look forward to your positive response and any future bargaining dates.”
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