Driving unfortunately is a necessity when a person lives in Lethbridge
By Lethbridge Herald on May 10, 2023.
I read with interest Kelti Baird’s letter about transportation. I grew up in England, one uncle had a car. We all walked miles, whatever the weather. At the age of 4 every other day I walked to the town with my mum and bought groceries. I was loaded with a couple of bags for the journey back.
Life was tough but I knew how to walk and to accomplish things without transport. That was then, this is now. I learned to drive when I came here because in the main that is how you got around.
We only had one car so I often used a bus. In those days the bus service was amazing. For the last several years I have had many health issues, surgeries and treatments. I didn’t drive.
My husband gladly looked after me driving me to appointments, shopping etc. As I recovered I began driving with him in the car. Fine. Except he got sick and suddenly died. Thank God for family, thank God for friends, Thank God I live on the No. 2 bus route and can easily get downtown. When the weather is reasonable I can take the bus and then walk to my church. I can walk across two bridges downtown and do some shopping. In spite of my health issues I consider myself a strong and fit woman.
But I am 69 so walking with two grocery bags from the grocery store on the north side to where I catch the bus downtown is my limit. If the weather is bad, and we have had a bad winter, scratch the bus, church and shopping. Then I have had to rely on family and friends. But everyone has a life and I can’t expect folk to endlessly take care of my transport problems.
And the No. 22 bus only takes care of a few things for me, what about my doctor on Mayor Magrath Drive, my dentist on the west side? The bus system today is one of straight lines. A friend took me for my yearly mammogram to Radiology and Associates in November. There used to be a bus there, but the staff told me not for sometime had there been a bus. Six months later I see my trusty No. 2 is now taking in that destination. Which is a blessing if you have no transport and need to attend appointments.
My solution has been to take brush up driving lessons which are going very well courtesy of an amazing lady instructor.
I have learned that I cannot survive without some other mode of transport than a bus and my two feet. I have learned that taxis are an expensive form of transport but if I buy a substantial amount of groceries or a large item I’m not taking the bus.
Yes, Lethbridge is not set up for walkers and those without cars. Grocery stores and big box stores are not corner stores. Even if I lived in the far south around Costco as a walker I would find it difficult navigating across a major road with grocery bags and forget trying to do it at -15C with a windchill and snow/ice on the ground.
Yes, it would be lovely to see some of these ideas Kelti spoke of. But it will be years and years before we see positive change like this. And if the bus system is anything to go by we are regressing. In the meantime, God willing, I will drive myself to appointments and shopping. Still walking as much as I can but knowing I can take care of my transport needs where a bus and walking just does not cut it. One more thing I did want to mention, as I walk around Lethbridge, and across to the north side.
Never once have I been accosted by street people; they have left me alone or been very courteous.
Ruth Kereliuk
Lethbridge
14-13
Thanks for the great letter Ruth, it’s a tragedy that people in your situation aren’t able to get around without a car.
Long term we can invest in our transit, we can encourage neighborhood stores and local business to open up and thrive, and make our city one where people can get around without a car. This is especially important as we get older – at 69 most people can safely drive, but as we get older it’s safer for everyone if there are other options. Can we really claim to care for our elders if we force them to drive unsafely or sit at home dying of boredom? Some of these things can be done in years, some in decades. We should be considering them when redesigning our roads and updating our zoning codes. I remember when walkable cities were just called cities, and people knew their neighbors and looked out for each other, we had it before, why not now?
Short term, the best we can do is get as many people off the road as we can. Most people in Lethbridge will need to make some trips by car – the coldest winter days, far ends of the city with poor bus coverage, particularly large shopping trips. The best thing we can do for those trips is make them safer, simpler, and more pleasant – which is to say, get some cars off the road. How do we do that? Make walking safer. Remove slip lanes, decrease speed limits outside of major roads, use safer intersection timings. And of course, build some bike lanes. These aren’t hard tasks – we could get many of them done this summer if we only had the desire. Sadly much of our city still values getting to work a few seconds quicker over the lives of their fellow citizens…
This brings to the fore the long range planning needed to design walkable cities and neighbourhoods. For example, my mother-in-law, who has since passed, lived in a senior’s building in a small city in The Netherlands. On the ground floor was everything, i.e. grocery stores, medical clinics, flower shops, coffee shops, restaurants, green spaces,…..lovely! And, of course, The Netherlands has a fantastic public transit system for further travels!
We need to get away from this mentality here that because we have space, that everything can be spread out and the mentality of big box stores ‘on the other side of town.’