South Peace Historical Society

    • Home
    • About / Contact Us
    • About Dorthea Horton
    • About This Collection
    • Bibliography
    • Brief History of the Peace
    • Credits
    • South Peace Historical Society Archives (External Link)
  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

  •  

BN03-08: Wheelchair Accessible Buses for Dawson Creek

Recent History 1999

Nov. 30, 1999

By Mark Nielsen, Daily News Staff

Getting around town has suddenly become a lot easier for people like Arnold Bennington and Dennis Mracek.

While Bennington must use crutches while he isn’t riding a scooter, Mracek is wheelchair bound, and neither could use the public transit system.

But that changed on Monday with the arrival of a Dennis Dart to Dawson Creek. Bennington and Mracek were among the first to give the new low-floor bus a try, and both were impressed.

“It was very good,’ said Bennington who added that he was able to use such buses when he was living in Vernon.

Mracek, who chairs the Dawson Creek Access Society, said he was also happy, but added that he hopes the drivers get some training in how to deal with those in wheelchairs.

Thanks to fold-up seats and special tie downs, the bus can carry two wheelchair passengers. As well, to allow such passengers on, the bus ‘kneels’ and deploys a hydraulic ramp in just six seconds.

Bennington said he had no trouble getting on, but he had to make a few short turns before he could turn himself around and get off the bus after the ride.

But he said it will make life much easier, particularly in winter.

A second Dennis Dart will arrive in Dawson Creek in December. The two replace a couple of 17-year-old buses and can carry up to 28 seated passengers, and with the standees, 49 in all.

Each of the buses costs about $380,000 but won’t mean an increase in the amount the city pays to B.C. Transit for the service, said assistant administrator Jim Chute, because the cost is defrayed across the province.

The system cost the city $198,400 to run in 1999.

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

« BN03-07: Bernice Ashley – Never Too Old to Learn to Fly

BN03-09: Room for Improvement in Moving Grain by Rail »

© 2023 South Peace Historical Society. All Rights Reserved.