One spry 87-year-old West End resident is voting Yes in the ongoing transportation plebiscite because she says investing in a decent public transit system is important and inevitable.
Peggy Casey said with the transportation system in a bad state of disrepair, there’s a need to improve it and to delay investing in the system would simply cost the public even more later.
“It’s not about TransLink. People don’t realize it,” said Casey.
She said seniors become concerned when they hear the words, “increase in taxes.”
“It’s kind of the last straw even though it’s such a small amount. What is it, 50 cent on $100? It’s just the idea. It adds onto the stress,” Casey said, adding for her, it’s about future generations. “I want a decent system for my children and grandchildren.”
Legally blind, Casey uses the transit system about six to seven times a month to travel downtown, to New Westminster and Metrotown. She also travels to Richmond, taking the community bus to Yaletown station. The C21 and C23 are shuttle buses that operate in the West End. Casey previously lived in Richmond for almost 30 years.
“I go in to visit friends. And I go in occasionally for maybe a hospital test or something like that.”
Next month, she will have lived in the West End for 10 years. Casey moved into the neighbourhood to be closer to family. She’s out and about everyday.
“I walk a great deal around the West End,” she said.
Casey was declared legally blind 27 years ago and gave up driving. She was frightened and apprehensive because she didn’t know what would happen next.
“I lost the central vision in one eye at 57 and then at 59, the other eye.”
Today, Casey doesn’t have any peripheral vision on either eye and almost no vision on her left eye.
“I see some contrast. I think I know just about every bump on the sidewalks in the West End,” said Casey. “Sunlight is not good for me. I’m actually better on a cloudy day. But I have enough peripheral vision to get around my own neighbourhood without too much assistance.”
When Casey travels to a place she isn’t familiar with, she brings her white cane. To keep on schedule she relies on her analog watch, which talks and tells her the time at the press of a button and acts as her alarm clock. She also has a magnifier in her purse to read the print on restaurant menus.
Casey sometimes uses her glasses, a round brown pair with thick lenses reminiscent of the bottom of a Coke bottle. In her home, chairs are lined up neatly by the table and there’s no miscellaneous knick-knacks on countertops.
“It’s very important to me that people put the scissors in the right drawers and everything where it’s supposed to go,” she added.
Otherwise, she can’t find them again.
A Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report said a lack of access to transportation is one of the major challenges people face as they age. “If seniors become housebound, they are less likely to eat well, get regular exercise or get to medical appointments,” states the report, adding that a lack of access to transportation means seniors are more likely to become socially isolated.
Social connection is a key determinant, the report added, of seniors’ health, slowing cognitive decline, the onset of dementia and the progress of disability. “Active, healthy seniors are also less likely to require more expensive health services like physician and hospital care.”
In a report compiled by the Office of the B.C. Seniors Advocate, seniors expressed grave concerns about their freedom and independence once they were no longer able to drive.
“There were emotional stories from seniors about the trauma they experienced from the driving assessment process and the devastation they faced upon losing the independence that driving provides,” the report read in part.
It also noted while seniors appreciate services such as HandyDART, they are concerned about limitations of such services and frustrated with processing applications, wait times, frequency and the cost for low-income seniors. The report noted seniors feel they live in an ageist society that devalues them and sees them as a drain on the system.
“While some seniors do need assistance, seniors actively contribute to their communities in many ways and their contributions should be recognized.”
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