Park Goers Check Out NH’s Connections Bus
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City residents got to board Northern Health’s Connections bus at Fort George Park yesterday
Prince George, BC – City residents taking in Canada Day celebrations at Fort George Park yesterday were able to climb on-board Northern Health’s Connections coach bus for a first-hand look at the transportation service available to residents needing to travel for medical care.
NH Connections representatives manned an information booth in an effort to increase awareness of the low-cost transportation service that’s available to residents throughout the region who need to travel to medical appointments.
The large coach bus is used for trips from Prince George to Vancouver, as well as for residents traveling from communities in the northeast and northwest to Prince George and back to their home communities.
Among the features offered on the bus:
- WiFi and 110v AC outlets at each seat for laptops
- five overhead video screens and DVD players
- room for up to four wheelchair passengers and a wheelchair accessible washroom (a first in North America)
- in-seat audio systems offering a choice of three satellite radio stations
For more information on the Connections bus service schedule and fares, click here.
Comments
Nice bus. Cheaper and more realistic than trying to get doctors to live and work here in Pot Hole City. Get familiar with the bus, folks. Chances are you will have to use it one day. I did.
This bus provides an excellent and cheap service to see specialists when there is simply not enough work for them in the smaller centres. Without this bus, people are forced to fly or take Greyhound, both far more expensive options. I applaud the foresight of the people who created this service and convinced the government to subsidize it. This innovative thinking is what we need more of in health care.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks very much for the kind words – I am the person who invented NH Connections (which is actually a whole bunch of services, though the mainline bus is the largest). I would be remiss if I didn’t say I had a whole lot of help getting it going – like all things in life, you only really get somewhere when others support and believe in you.
It was an interesting process getting it from a blank sheet of paper to a fully operational service…believe it or not, it took just a little more than a year from the time I was hired to do something, until we had buses on the road. There was a lot of skepticism from some quarters, but I think we came up with something that was about being good to people and doing something creative to meet needs. We also built the world’s first (only?) wheelchair accessible washroom onboard a coach bus – who would have thought that? Anyway, we built it because we thought it was worth asking for, and we got it! We also did little things like make sure there was contrast between the floor, the upholstery, and the ceiling, so people with visual disabilities could maneuver easier. The one complaint is legroom, but we didn’t have a lot of options there. We always had the DVDs and satellite radios, but the service looks to have added WiFi (wanted that but the tech didn’t exist at the time) and GPS tracking (also a really cool feature). Great to see the service continue to grow!
I must point out that the people at Diversified Transportation, who run the buses on behalf of Northern Health, really bought into what we were about. They hired terrific people, trained them well, and let them do their work. Big points to DTL for taking on something that really was different.
While I am no longer in the north, I still keep tabs on ‘my’ buses, and always have a big smile on my face when I see them roll through the Fraser Valley. I am glad you like my service. :)
Sean Hardiman
NH Chief Liaison Officer & Manager for NH Connections (2005-2009)
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