WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - People living in one Worcester retirement community feel trapped by recent changes to their bus schedule. Many of them have to walk a half-mile uphill just to get home.
Some of the 210 residents at Coes Pond Village rely on the number 7 bus to get around.
“Many people depend on this,” Norma Wellman, a Village resident of two years.
“When we were downtown, we would say, ‘I’m going to Coes Pond Village Apartments,’ and then they would drop us off,” she continued.
But residents can’t ask to be dropped off anymore and the Worcester Regional Transit Authority has cut weekday trips to the Village from 30 to just 8.
“As a nurse, I know that if you confine someone to their space, you isolate them, and what happens? They become depressed,” Wellman said. “That’s the ramification of someone taking away their freedom to go to the places.”
With reduced bus service to their community, many residents now have to walk a half-mile up hill to get to their homes.
“Many, many, many times I have to come up the hill and I thank God that I’m 66, I can still come up this hill, but many days during the heat wave, it was a killer,” Wellman said.
The hill is not easy to climb. One woman 7 Investigates spoke with says her smart watch went off three different times saying her heart rate was too high. Others are concerned of what could happen if they slip and fall.
“How are we gonna go down that hill in the winter?” Wellman said.
One resident climbing the hill had to stop to catch his breath several times just to make it up.
“When I get here, I’ll take a break and then I’ll sit in the bench a little bit and then head home,” Wellman said.
7 Investigates discovered the retirees could no longer request drop-off at Coes Pond Village after a city petition circulated, citing low usage and delays on other bus routes.
Ken Johnson and Mike Ross were among those who called on the city to review the bus routes.
“When the bus goes out comes down, it’s empty. There’s nobody on it,” said Johnson, a First Street resident.
But they also want to make sure their neighbors up the hill can get home safely.
“They come down with their wheelchairs. It is really difficult for them and winter time especially,” Johnson said.
After 7 Investigates started asking questions and transit authority members met with Coes Pond residents, three more daily trips up the hill were added to the bus schedule.
But residents are still concerned it won’t be enough.
“I will have a car soon, but the ones that don’t have a car — they need a bus,” Wellman said.
The city offers a bus service for the elderly and disabled. Transit officials say they plan to speak with Village residents again this fall to discuss further changes.
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