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Care-A-Van continues to offer transportation options

The Weyburn Care-A-Van Society will continue to provide two different transportation options for Weyburn residents, with the in-town bus upgraded with a new vehicle.
Care-A-Van Society

The Weyburn Care-A-Van Society will continue to provide two different transportation options for Weyburn residents, with the in-town bus upgraded with a new vehicle.

The service is available for people who have mobility issues, such as those in a wheelchair, and don’t have their own transportation.

The bus is available within Weyburn’s city limits, with the Care-A-Van driver, Sandra Montgomery, while the van is available for rent as long as the renter can supply their own driver.

The advantage of the van is that it is available seven days a week, and can travel anywhere in Saskatchewan, while the bus is available Monday to Friday, and only within city limits.

As Montgomery noted in an interview, prices have been lowered for the van to help keep the cost down for out-of-town travel.

“We feel this was needed to have a wheelchair van available to help with the travel challenges that have come about,” she said, noting they heard of a recent occurrence of a woman who paid $200 for a taxi ride to Regina.

This happened as a shuttle service is no longer operating from Weyburn to take people into Regina, so the van rental is being put forward as an alternative to an expensive taxi ride.

The Care-A-Van Society is prepared to pay for the fuel for the van rental. There is a cost per ride on the bus, while the van is rented on an hourly or daily basis.

The new rates for the van are, for out-of-town travel, $85 per day plus 50 cents per kilometer after the first 100 km. For in-town use, it’s $20 for the first hour and $10 per hour after that, with a charge of 50 cents per kilometer after the first 100 km.

For the bus, the cost is $8 per ride each way, $40 an hour after hours, with a standby rate of $10 per hour.

Montgomery also noted that the bus isn’t just for people who are in wheelchairs, as the bus has provided transportation in the city for people with intellectual disabilities, and even for students who have other disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

The bus can transport up to three wheelchairs, or up to eight people with two wheelchairs. The van can accommodate up to two wheelchairs, or four people plus one wheelchair, and a driver need only have the normal Class 5 licence.

The van is available where a taxi may not be able to accommodate taking a person in a wheelchair out of a long-term care facility to a family function in town or to an appointment here or out of Weyburn.

“A lot of people don’t realize our services are there, even nurses sometimes aren’t aware that we’re available,” said Montgomery.

A plus with the van is there is a user-friendly ramp for a wheelchair that is not mechanical, and can be used by anybody. She operates the wheelchair lift to get into or out of the bus.

Montgomery has been driving for Care-A-Van for 26 years, and the new current bus is the fourth bus the organization has had. This bus is slightly smaller but wider than the previous bus, so it actually accommodates more people. It also has a four-point system to secure a wheelchair in, along with a shoulder/lapbelt, where the first bus she drove only had a hook for the wheelchair.

To ask for a ride on the bus, which is available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., call Community Home Care at 306-842-6870 or 306-861-2219.

To rent the van, call the Weyburn Special Care Home for bookings at 306-842-4455.