As one who has been fighting for better buses in North Vancouver, I was delighted when I saw we finally had some new low-rise buses. 

Thrilled until I actually rode on one that is! I would never have believed that TransLink could come up with anything worse but they have. Here are a few reasons why:

n Old buses carried approximately 75 people safely (that is passengers seated or with something to hold onto while standing like a pole or shoulder harness. New buses only safely carry 40 passengers.

n The row seats on the new buses are uncomfortable, and only made for small people.  This morning a man was sitting next to me and both his and my knees were touching the seat in front.  I am five-six and he was five-seven.  I cannot imagine how someone six-feet or taller or a very pregnant woman with a small child would ever be able to sit on one of those seats.

n The backs of the seats are metal, so if you are forced forward you are going to feel a lot of pain, if not some kind of injuries.

n The old buses were such so that passengers were sitting at least four feet off the road and they are very solidly built. On the new buses the passengers are only about two feet off the ground and I believe this makes them very unsafe. For example if a vehicle were to sideswipe an old bus, I think there would only be dents, if the same thing happens with one of these new buses I believe a number of people will be seriously hurt and the reality of death is very great.

Why have we gone from bad to worse and how long will the general public stand for this?

To express my concern I went to the TransLink meeting at Lonsdale Quay on Thursday night (I found out from a bus driver, where was the advertising for this event?)

Of course we heard the same old, same old: no money, well we all know what that means! 

I was very impressed by the fact that Don Bell, Richard Walton, Doug Mackay-Dunn and Sam Schechter gave very impassioned presentations for a new bus depot in North Vancouver. 

Again the same old response – no money.  What about all the money they plan to make for the development along the new rapid transit lines?

 What exactly is the credibility of these TransLink Horse and Pony shows? They have no money, but they just hired a board that gets paid $1,200 for just mentioning the word bus. Even though the public is paying huge bucks for these people, the meetings they have are closed to the public and I believe it is even difficult to get minutes of their meetings.

Wake up North Vancouver – this whole TransLink/Coast Mountain transportation thing is nothing more then a huge and horrible hoax. When are the people going to take a stand and say enough is enough?

Sue Cook, North Vancouver

Unimpressed with MacKay Creek Park updates

For the past 25 years I have walked the short trail from West 1st to MacKay Creek Park. The park was natural and pretty.

Someone has decided to improve on nature by building a four-foot-high gravel trail through the swampy wetland part.

The trail is complete with limestone finish and steel culverts right through the skunk cabbage and natural growth.

To top this, they have placed a number of logs along the old creek-side trail which makes it look a lot like the tank traps the Germans erected on the beaches of Normandy.

Also, they have added a large pile of stones.

Anything more unnatural would be difficult to envision.

So count me unimpressed.

Bob Pearson, North Vancouver