People for People and the 4 County Community Transportation team came together on Wednesday, April 6 and asked the community to help Identify  needs, issues and solutions for Ellensburg public transportation. The meeting also allowed locals to voice their concerns on issues like accessibility and safety. 

“What’s important is to describe or to identify gaps and services or undermet transportation needs for people, especially those with special transportation needs. Many times we can guess at what those things might be but it’s not until we talk with the public that it’s easier to identify those gaps,” Transit Manager Besty Dubar said.

The concerns discussed at the open house were  route stops in areas that were unsafe for people with accessibility issues. Crosswalk safety was also a concern brought up due to some crosswalks not being visible. According to the public, there are other areas with  no crosswalks. Lastly,  bus stop labels are unclear or hard to read. The public also voiced their concern that there is no direct bus that goes to the hospital, which could be an issue for those with disabilities or who are elderly.

“We don’t want somebody who is riding the service, and they are using a wheelchair, to get off the bus and be on gravel.” Dubar said. “We want it to be an ADA [Americans with Disability Act] landing so that it is wide enough and long enough that they can safely and easily get off and on the bus.” 

Along with hearing the public’s opinions, the committee wanted to hear from CWU students.

“It is important for students to be able to know what is available; people don’t always know what services are available and how to connect with them so having students available to be able to identify and hear their voice [is important],” CEO of People for People, Madalyn Carson, said.

Every four years the Human Services Transportation Plan is updated. After identifying the issues and collecting information from each county and all the public meetings, it will then be added to the plan, which is due to the state by the end of September. 

As of right now, Central Transit has applied for a grant for additional bus shelters and ADA landings so the services are equitable for everyone. These changes are  expected to take place sometime in 2022. 

“I would like the students to know we’re glad that they’re back full time,” Dunbar said. “We’re glad that this pandemic is over; we want them to ride the bus; we want to make it easy for them to ride the bus and we want it to be safe and equitable to all who want to and need to ride the bus.”