CHAD Transit celebrating 25 years of helping people get around
CHAD Transit is celebrating a major milestone, and it's sharing the moment with a few of its most frequent riders - clients from Summer Street Industries.
“We have been in partnership with CHAD for those 25 years and, to be honest, I don’t know what we would do without them,” Summer Street executive director Bob Bennett said. “I don’t know how people would get back and forth to our programs and services, I really don’t. They have been very important and valuable to us.”
One of the clients Bennett refers to is Shauna Turnbull, who requires a wheelchair. She has been riding with CHAD - or Central Highlands Association of the Disabled for roughly 10 years.
“People make me laugh,” she said of one of her favourite parts of taking the accessible bus.
Driver Keith Sutherland has been with CHAD for 11 years. He echoed Turnbull’s thought of enjoying the company during the drives.
“Just getting to know the people who take the bus, we talk and have a great day,” Sutherland said.
He said the Summer Street destination is a daily morning run for him and then it’s up to whoever calls for service.
“If someone calls about needing to go to a doctor’s appointment or to get their hair done, that's where I'm going,” he said, offering a couple of examples.
Started in 1996 in response to the suspension of service of Pictou County Transit (PCT), CHAD aimed to help those most vulnerable to the lack of transportation services, such as seniors, and those in wheelchairs and other mobility concerns.
It’s funded through a combination of municipal and provincial funding, as well as fares and donations.
CHAD has grown to do more than 30,000 trips per year using a fleet of six buses, a minivan, and a van.
“Transit is about connectivity and getting people to the services. If you don’t have a way to get to those services, they’re not much good to you,” Danny MacGillivray, CHAD executive director, said.
Chairperson with CHAD, Rosemary Hayter, said they look to provide service to the community in many ways.
“You look at the Summer Street clients, the charters we do, a couple of years ago we did a Sunday drive program for seniors; so it’s just all kinds of various ways we bring people together.”
Hayter said CHAD is looking forward to an exciting year, coming off the challenges of a year dominated by COVID.
“We enter a year of rebuilding and getting back to full capacity,” she said.
MacGillivray talked about growth for the service between New Glasgow and Stellarton leading to Pictou County being revived as a three-year pilot project and CHAD playing a significant role.
“The plan is a one-hour loop between the two towns, Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” he said. “Target start date is May 17. CHAD was asked to manage and operate the service as we have the expertise, and are providing a backup bus as needed, saving PCT the significant expense of a spare bus.”
Bennett said it’s wise to have CHAD involved in the project.
“We’re really excited by the fixture transit service they’re going to manage because that is just going to open a whole different sense of independence throughout those two towns, for a lot of clients,” he said. “Summer Street is proud of its partnership with CHAD and looks forward to continuing to work together in the future.”
For more on CHAD, visit their website at chadtrasit.ruralrides.ca. The Summer Street website is summerstreet.ca and both organizations have Facebook pages they encourage people to check out.