Penny wise and pound foolish. It's an approach we see all too often in this province these days in education, health care and beyond.
Often, belt-tightening on one level leads to a passing of the buck - either to lower levels of government, or to individuals themselves.
When news first broke that the well used TaxiSaver program was going to be axed, we thought here again was an example of a short-term savings that would ultimately cost us all more in the long run.
The program allows qualified users - mostly those who are disabled and the elderly - to receive a 50 per cent subsidy on a taxi ride when needed for medical or other appointments.
The system is far more flexible than its counterpart, HandyDart, which requires users to pre-book set times - which doesn't always work so well when a health issue crops up suddenly or an appointment goes longer than expected.
In the long run, the impacts of the loss of this program would no doubt be felt on many levels.
What we didn't expect was that the hue and cry in response to the funding decision would actually be enough to force TransLink to reconsider - and ultimately reverse - its decision.
Protests of this kind often go unheard.
So, kudos to the transit agency for listening to what people had to say (see page 9 for details) and reviewing the original plan - though we can't help but feel that a bit more forethought on their end would have saved a good deal of anxiety and panic for TaxiSaver users. It's rare for any public policy decision, especially one that involves money savings and a cash-strapped organization, to be reversed.
This turn of events proves just how invaluable the program is - but more importantly, how much power people have when they stand up as one.
