HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - February 18, 1981 (36)315 Olive Court
Lodi, California 95240
February 12, 1981
The Lodi City Council
City, Hall
221 W. Tine Street
Lodi, California 95240
Gentl.ement
This letter concerns the article on busing, in the Lodi News
Sentinel. February 49 1981. Frankly, I could not believe what I
was reading! Anyone involved in the promotion of sueh a plan for
the 41koW is not living in the real world and, apparently, knows
noth ng of,the real needs of the elderly.
Let me point out a few factors, which I believe, would contri-
bute to the failure of such a busing plan.
Erwin & Hinshaw are including potential riders from 6A years
of age on. Most people 6n to 65 are still working and driving their
own cars. When 1 -was 60 1 drove to Sacramento and back five days a
week, until. I was 65. Now I drive my car sometimes and take Dial -A
Ride other times.
My personal, observation is that many people®s health begins to
fail in their middle, or late seventies. When that happens they need
door to door transportation, which we have now with Dials -A -Ride.
Most elderly people are unable to stand out there and wait for a bus.
Getting on and off is a problem for the elderly, as well, as the handi-
capped.
Some time ago I read a .letter, in a local newspaper, by a lady
complaining about having to gait too long for Dial. -A -Ride. Obviously,
this lady. has no experience in using a bus as her regular means of
transportation. If she did, she would know that people often wait
much longer (as a general rule) for a bus. And they are not wait-
ing in their homes, or some other building. They are out in the open
in all kinds of weather. A thorough chilling could prove fatal to an
aged person.
I lived in San Francisco for almost twenty years where public
transportation is the way to goo Many times I got chilled, caught
colds and flu, due to waiting for buses or street cars. And I was
young in those days. I would not use a bus today.
Recently there have been terrible crimes committed on buses, in
San Francisco and New York. You may say, but Lodi is not San Prancisco
or New York. True, but we certainly have our quota of hoodlums and
criminals in Lodi. And they are just as vicious as those in larger
cities. I read about them almost every day in the paper. It would
be Inhumane to deliberately foist this extra suffering on the help-
less aged.
Erwin & Hinshaw do &9t know whether the proposed busing plan
would be successful; they do not know whether or not they would
Page 2.
put Bial -A -Ride out of business. No one even knows how much the fare
would be. This whole proposed setup appears amateurish in the extreme.
Yet a small group of people would take it upon themselves to experi.
ment with the taxpayers' 8120 000 (minimum). If these were privately
owned funds, a better way to Invest then would be found.
I strongly suggest you take that $120,000 and use it to enlarge
the fleet of Dial -A -Ride with new tears. We have a sure thing with
Dial -A -Ride and dour to door service, which is what seniors need.
One day I was in a Dial -A -Ride cab when the driver drove up to
the door of a beauty shop. The drive9r got out and helped the lady
into the cab. When we arrived at her home, the driver got out again,
too the lady by the arm and helped her to her door, rung the door bell
and waited until a member of the family opened the door and helped this
lady into the house. I later remarked to ,the driver that it's too bad
she had so much trouble walking. He explained that her mind has deter-
iorated to the extend she does not know her own name, or her horse add-
ress.
I described the above incident in an effort to Impress upon your
minds the kind of service (extremely necessary service) that DialmA-
Ride gives. To my knowledge, there is no other service available any-
where else where I have lived, or visited, that could even vaguely
compare with Dial -A -Ride. So, let's use our heads and keep it while we
still have a chance for it. And give it everything we can to help it
grow.
I wish to thank Councilman Hughes for opposing the proposed bus-
ing plan and for his realistic and intelligent approach to the matter.
He is telling it like it is.
At this time I would like to bring up another matter, which I
believe, should be given some attention. I am speaking for services
needed for shutins, invalids, or seRiinvalids, and the handicapped.
These people find it difficult to shop, or attend to business, out-
side their homes.
I have thought about this for some time, but more so recently.
For more than six weeks I have been unable to go out because of a
case cf flu that won't quit. I was in need of groceries but was too
weak to shop for myself. I called several stores and asked if they
had a delivery service. The only who would deliver, in an "emergency",
was the Sell Rite Market. And they were most helpful.
I envision a pool with one phone number, through which a variety
of services could be handled. Such services as shopping for groceries
and othor° items, trips to the post office, hairdressers who could come
to the homes, some househelp, cleaning, etc®
It may be that the businesses who supply the above services
would have to set up such a center themselves, but I feel city offi-
cials should take the initiative in this pian. Personally, i have no
experience in setting up a service center - I just believe there is a
need for it.
Thank you for bearing with me and for keeping my name anonymous.
I did not write this letter to seek publicity, but to express my
� tit 5�7 > �
..-
� _•S�r�
t
f•
From The Desk Of
NANCY ADAM
y
f
rv.
V,
i
ti
i
s
'1
Y
i
I
k.
J �?
T..
f' Y
a,.
t." 4
r'
s,
I t
9:'
Enol sl
IMM
0
M
The following is a dopy of a letter recently
oubl ished in News Sentinels ?
i�
"Editors
Passing through Lodi on our way home
to Bellevue, Wash. we read your ]Lodi brews
Sentinels of reb® 4 regarding 'rr°eation of
bus service.'
t
.y
I do hope the nodi councilmen 'ponder'
they, throw it in the wastepaper baskere
r
Roes the need really exist? Has it worked
in other communities?
It possibly will end up Like our mini -bits
service in Bellevue, in the wastepaper baske r a
It was an expensive experiment® No one used it.;
I hope you turn down those 'tax dollars'
and (the) monies can be allocated to a higher
priority®