COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Jamie Berry normally leaves his house at 8:30 a.m. for work. It takes him about 10 minutes to make the short four-mile drive to work at Silver Key.
But on Tuesday Berry didn't drive to work. Instead he left his house in a wheelchair and set out to catch the bus to work as part of "Roll A Mile In My Shoes," a joint program put on by Silver Key and Colorado Springs Independence Center.
The program's purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of what people with disabilities must do on a daily basis to get around in our city, and how referendum 2C will impact transportation for our community.
Berry had two buses to catch to get him over to work, so on Tuesday he left from his house at 7:25 a.m. He missed the first bus two blocks away, which meant rolling down four more blocks to try and catch another one.
Fortunately it was just cold on Tuesday, so Berry only had to contend with cold hands instead of rain or snow. But even without bad weather, Berry had difficulties navigating the sidewalks, often opting for the street when his wheelchair couldn't wheel over the cracks in the sidewalk.
When Berry finally made it into work, the whole trip had taken about two hours.
"Nothing about this morning has been easy and I can't imagine what it would be like if the buses came even less frequently," said Berry.
If referendum 2C does not pass, 63,000 hours of bus service would be eliminated. Those cuts would mean the buses would only run every hour during rush hour instead of every half hour as it does now. The buses would also stop running after 6 p.m. and on weekends, along with cutting out routes to Fort Carson and Schriever Air Force Base.
If such cuts were made Berry speculated "my day would be much shorter. I wouldn't be able to work past 6:00 and being that it took me two hours this morning to get here, I'd probably have to be leaving [work] no later than 4:30."
On average 25,000 to 30,000 people ride the transit every year. This year metro use is at an all-time high, up 3 percent from last year. The majority of riders rely on the bus system as their only method of transportation to get to and from work, to the grocery store, doctor's office, church and social occasions.
Cyrrus Easterlin is blind. The bus is how he gets everywhere everyday. He has doctor visits four times a week and said without the bus he wouldn't be able to find his doctor's office or many of the other places he goes.
Even if he were able to learn where certain places are located Easterlin said "being blind and trying to walk three to four miles would be real difficult. I've already been hit by a car nine times."
Weather in Colorado Springs also adds to the difficulties.
"When there's snow on the ground it's hard to tell whether you're walking on the sidewalk or on the street, which is really dangerous," he said.
For Berry, Tuesday was an eye-opening experience on how difficult it is to rely on public transportation even with current schedules. But for him it was a temporary hassle.
For Easterlin and the hundreds if not thousands more in Colorado Springs like him, this is their life and it's all they have. Restrictions to the bus system will undoubtedly put major restrictions on their lives -- those who arguably can afford it the least.
"If 2C fails, it would be very devastating," said Easterlin.
Metro Mobility has 2,700 people on the records who can ride paratransit. Of the almost 11,000 one-way trips every day, there are 400 to 500 people who use the wheelchair lift on the city bus.
Neither of these numbers account for those who ride the regular city bus who are blind, deaf, use a cane or walker, or have a mental illness, said Berry.
Transit is only one thing the City has said would be negatively affected if referendum 2C doesn't pass. To read more click here.
If you would like to participate in "Roll a Mile In My Shoes" the program runs until Friday, Oct. 30. Contact Jamie Berry at 719-884-2362 or jberry@silverkey.org
Click on the camera icon to view the story as it aired on FOX21 News.
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