As of Jan. 2, there is an option for free public transportation serving Coast areas north of Halfmoon Bay. It’s available to those over 65 years of age, with one southbound and one northbound trip between Egmont and Sechelt on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The “Seniors Link” six-passenger shuttle van, operated by Pender Harbour Health Centre through a grant from the United Way, has been well-received according to centre executive director, Nick Gaskin. In a Jan. 7 interview with Coast Reporter, he stressed that it is free for seniors to catch a ride on the service, which is not limited to travel for medical purposes. Going shopping in Madeira Park or farther south, visiting friends, accessing “affordable and healthy lunches at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre” or linking up with BC Transit services to the Langdale terminal ferry without using a private vehicle are some possibilities opened up by the new service, he stated.
How it works and is paid for
The southbound journey begins on service days at Bathgate’s Store in Egmont at 9 a.m. and makes pickup/drop off stops at five locales before arriving in Sechelt at 10:30 am. Stops including the seniors centre, Sunshine Coast Community Services offices (the site of a food bank location on Wednesdays) and Sechelt Hospital are offered. At 1:30 p.m. the shuttle leaves the Your Independent Grocer’s Tsain-ko Mall location for the northward trip, arriving back at its initial starting point at 3:30 p.m.
“And it is fully accessible,” Gaskin noted, as the van is equipped to transport mobility aids like wheelchairs and scooters and the driver is trained to assist those in need of such services.
Including those features was a choice that meant some compromises, he explained. The centre is using a vehicle that is also part of one of its Better at Home programs (transporting those with special mobility needs to medical appointments) as the shuttle bus. Ensuring room for the mobility equipment was maintained (so that the van could be used for the other program on Mondays and Fridays) meant a third row of seating could not be included for the “hop on/hop off” bus.
“That does limit our passenger capacity,” but Gaskin said he is hopeful that the service could be expanded, if a need can be demonstrated. The program is tracking usage to support a follow up funding application, as the original $50,000 grant from United Way’s Healthy Aging Community Impact program will expire at the end of March. Although there is no guarantee that continued support for the initiative can be found, Gaskin said he is “quietly optimistic” options will become available.
He noted the centre’s application was one of four successful applications from the lower Sunshine Coast that received 2024 United Way approvals. Senior’s Link was invited to present details on how it was built “from the ground up” to the operational stage in eight months at a seniors symposium in Vancouver and has garnered attention from the BC Seniors Advocate.
"We're getting a lot of positive feedback from community and also a lot of positive interaction and connections with government," commented Gaskin.
United Way spokesperson Beverly Pitman shares those positive views. "Nick and other leaders supporting seniors on the Coast – people like Fran Miller with Gibsons Seniors Centre, Carey Rumba with Sunshine Coast Community Services, and Sally McBride with Vancouver Coastal Health, Sue Elliott with the SC Seniors Planning Table and others – have been working for about a year and a half now to improve transportation services for the entire population in the region. In my view, their success in securing funding, convening local experts and residents in community engagement events, and building relationships with the key transportation providers should be recognized – and encouraged," she wrote in a Jan. 8 email to Coast Reporter.
The service had a trial run for a couple of weeks in December. That practice period and 2025 so far have required few adjustments from the program that centre staff started development of last April, after the grant was confirmed.
One point that service users have raised is that there is no reservation option. Gaskin said he realizes that poses a challenge for people who want to ensure they can travel on a specific date but explained that a booking process would add an administrative layer and costs. For the initial round of the program, there was a decision to go without those complications so that the budget could be stretched to provide as many shuttle operation hours as possible.
“It means 22 hours per week of bus service” and the ability to pay a living wage hourly rate to the service’s driver, according to Gaskin.
The service's driver, Brian Peterson, commented that on trips where he has had multiple passengers on board, there has been a lot of conservation among those on board. A review of the service received from traveller Shannon and shared with Coast Reporter read, “Thank you for providing a transportation service for seniors in Pender Harbour. Without the means to get out, we can lose connection with the community. I rode the bus yesterday and loved it."
'Seniors Link' use hints
Gaskin recommends that seniors check in with the centre either by telephone or through its Facebook page and website on the morning of travel to ensure the shuttle is running and for an update on any schedule changes. Runs may be cancelled if road or weather conditions present a challenge. He noted the program budget did not have room for the training or for pay for a replacement, should the driver be unable to work due to sickness or other reasons.
Even though no reservation can be made, if clients let the centre know when they are planning to travel, Gaskin said that does provide useful information on the level of demand that centre staff can share with other potential travellers.
Coast Reporter can confirm the shuttle arrived on time in Pender on its Jan. 7 return trip. There were no passengers, but Peterson noted that indications were four of the six seats were going to be filled on Jan. 9, with one of his passengers so pleased with the service they were planning to bring three friends along for that date’s ride.
