About a year ago I complained about Cherry Hill Township’s senior bus service. This free service provides transportation to and from supermarkets, doctor’s offices, etc. for seniors and the disabled. My complaint was that the service depends upon only two drivers to handle the entire township with no substitutes available to handle call-outs or emergencies. Well here’s an update. Unfortunately, nothing has changed.
Example, recently (mid-July), the driver who handles the west end had a death in his family, and consequently missed a few days of work. While this is understandable, what is not understandable is why this had to result in a complete collapse of the bus service for that week: no transportation for those who depend upon it. I would add that this same week saw excessive heat warnings posted for the area, meaning that if any seniors/disabled tried to venture out on their own,well, they would have had tough going. (And needless to say no apology was forthcoming from the township. Of course not! What do you think this is – a democracy or something?)
Now look, someone needs to sit down with the woman who runs the Cherry Hill Senior Bus Service and make a few things clear to her. For one thing she needs to consider the passengers point of view more. It’s not just a matter of “business-as-usual” or “another day,another dollar.” And here are two concrete suggestions: 1) How about distributing a “customer satisfaction survey” to all bus riders? This would give the township some much-needed feedback from people who actually use the service. 2) Why not offer first-time riders a printed schedule,showing in basic outline where the bus goes and on what days. Currently no such schedule exists,leaving newcomers perplexed and confused and feeling like the victim in an old Charlie Chan movie.
James Camilli
