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Kincardine joins SMART Disability Transportation Network By Liz Dadson |
Kincardine Council To Comment on this article Click Here |
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The Municipality of Kincardine has joined the Saugeen Mobility and Regional Transit (SMART) Disability Transportation Network as a full voting member. In committee-of-the-whole Jan. 26, chief administrative officer John deRosenroll told council that for the past five to seven years, Kincardine has been a fee-for-service member. This year's annual cost is $47,000. SMART promotes, supplies and renders services of a charitable nature to mentally-challenged and physically-handicapped people. Based in Hanover which belongs to the corporation, the remaining partners are Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, and West Grey. Manager Roger Cook told council that Kincardine had about 2,000 rides last year - a ride is a one-way trip in the SMART vehicle. He expects 2011 to be about the same. For the customer, the base rate for a ride is $6.80 within the municipality, plus 80 cents/kilometre beyond that. Deputy mayor Anne Eadie noted that Kincardine Community Living uses Green Transportation, while some clients use SMART. "It's costly," she said. "If a senior wants to go to Hanover and back, the cost would be $80." "We don't provide seniors transportation," said Cook. "It's for those who are mentally- and physically-challenged." "But in Hanover, seniors are included," said Eadie. "That's why they have such a high ridership," said Cook. "It's costly for us, with the ridership numbers we have," said councillor Jacqueline Faubert. "We're paying $25/ride. Help me understand why we can't find a more efficient and cost-effective way of getting people with special needs where they want to go, for less than $25/ride."
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"It's enormously expensive to provide this service in a
rural area," said Cook. "The vehicles and insurance are expensive. This
is one of the lowest-cost services in Ontario." "I'm still concerned that our seniors can't access this service," said Eadie, "and our cost is higher than Hanover's. We should be treated fairly, not subsidizing another municipality." Council agreed to become a member of the corporation, but requested a breakdown of the rides and costs for each municipality in the partnership. Cook will make those calculations available. Councillor
Maureen Couture said she was not comfortable giving this final approval
at the meeting, so it was held over to the Feb. 2 meeting which was
cancelled, and will now be dealt with at the Feb. 9 meeting. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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