To the editor:

As a dialysis patient at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, I am very grateful for the paratransit system that gets me (and many friends) there three times a week. That having been said, I must point out that the buses have not been improved or replaced since the special election several years ago.

Some buses have no air conditioning or barely working air conditioning. In a few, the A/C works so well that everyone is freezing. The buses must pick up the client within 15 minutes either side of the time requested, so clients already on the bus must ride along until their destination can be included in the route. These last few weeks of intense heat makes this a medically unhealthy situation. This hit-or-miss timing means riders are often late for their medical appointments.

One new driver apparently hadn’t finished being trained, for he didn’t know where the hospital was. On one bus, the ramp that allows wheelchair/walker entry wouldn’t stay down unless the driver stood on it.

Having waited 18 months for the new buses promised by the transit sales tax increase (supported by 70 percent of voters) when can we expect their arrival?

Alice Fowler,

Lawrence