Access-A-Ride changes hurting regular users
By Lethbridge Herald on October 23, 2025.
Editor,
To say I am infuriated is an understatement. The previous transit manager shifted resources from the Access-A-Ride service to “on-demand” buses, effectively taking away dedicated handicap buses. As a result, we are now left with only one bus operating at night. Even when there were three buses running in the evenings, it was often insufficient—many riders, myself included, missed important events because evening bookings were unavailable.
Now, I have been informed that as of Nov. 6, another full Access-A-Ride shift will be reassigned to the on-demand service. This decision is unacceptable.
Over the years, I have repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of service availability. Instead of improving, the situation has deteriorated under the current transit management.
If the city wishes to operate a glorified taxi service through on-demand transit, then purchase 15-passenger vans and fund that service through the regular transit budget—not by taking resources away from the handicapped community.
We’ve seen a clear increase in applications for handicapped status, yet instead of increasing the Handy Bus budget, entire bus shifts have been stripped away to support general ridership.
To give a personal example: if I have a committee meeting at night, I must book my ride home nine days in advance, precisely at 12:01 a.m., to secure a seat for 8:45 p.m. If I wait until the morning to call, all the evening spots are already booked online. Currently, Access-A-Ride buses are transporting dialysis patients until midnight, leaving only one bus available after 8 p.m. for everyone. This severely restricts any semblance of a social or civic life for those relying on the service—and the upcoming changes will make things even worse.
I challenge members of city council to attempt to schedule their commitments using the Access-A-Ride system. If anything comes up at the last minute, I guarantee you will quickly see the impracticality and frustration riders face daily.
I want the bus shifts that have been taken from the Access-A-Ride service reinstated immediately, and regular transit routes to be operated using regular transit buses—not vehicles intended for handicapped riders.
Jill Skriver
Lethbridge
12-11
This is what happens when we constantly vote for people whose campaigns include little more than lowering taxes. We’re in a race to the bottom, and the most vulnerable people are the ones who get hurt. The provincial conservatives keep reducing money available to municipalities, and the municipal conservatives have no interest in investing in “socialist” things like public transit.
Actually, I have talked to a few candidates regarding access a ride. You see, at one time, when it was solely operated and funded through the transportation board, it ran like a tight ship. The dispatcher knew where everyone was going, what their appointments were, and booked even the day before, whether you were on dialysis or not. Now, because it’s unionized and run by the city, that’s where things went downhill. I witnessed first hand two patients living within a block from each other and had to take two different buses! One passenger asked the driver if it was okay to be taken with the other patient, because of the short distance. Driver refused outright saying he was not scheduled to pick him up, leaving him to wait another 20 to 30 minutes! As well, because they are part of transit, they run fewer buses on weekends and holidays, if at all, leaving the dialysis unit to scramble for cabs, where half of them don’t even offer assistance getting in or out of the car! Ryan Parker suggested that it goes back to the way it was before, as they have no real business, other than to supplement funds. There’s my two cents