I was out of town last week and happened to notice the Voorhees Township handicapped/ senior bus service in operation, unloading passengers at a medical facility. I flagged the driver, and he explained to me that the service was now back in action after have been mothballed (idle) since the start of the pandemic in March. The reason I mention this is because Cherry Hill Township’s free handicapped/ senior bus service is still non-operational.Â
The Voorhees driver told me that for safety two changes had been made to the bus. First, passengers are not allowed to sit next to each other (only one person per double seat). And secondly, plastic sheets or screens had been installed between seats to allow more separation of air space — less chance of viral transmission.
It is hoped that Cherry Hill will take a cute from Voorhees and try to get the handicapped/ senior bus back in operation as soon as is safely possible. I know a woman, for instance, who resides in a high-rise near Chapel Ave. and King’s Highway. Formerly, she used the senior bus to do her grocery shopping, but now, she has to walk all the way from Chapel down to Whole Foods Market at Ellisburg to get food — a distance of about three-fourths of a mile. That’s quite a walk back and forth for an elderly person not necessarily in the best of health! And don’t forget the high heat and humidity and heavy bag of groceries!
So hopefully township officials will get with it and restart the senior bus. Remember, it is the duty of the government to provide S-E-R-V-I-C-E, not just to collect property taxes and throw their weight around.
James Camilli
