The City of Grande Prairie has agreed to continue funding the Disabled Transportation Society until September 1st. At a council meeting on Monday, members agreed to continue the funding as long as the society returns to its normal operating schedule.
This is the third time the city has vowed to keep funding going since DTS announced on May 29th it would be scaling back services because of a lack of funding and support from the city. It stated that multiple requests for adequate funding to effectively run the service has been met “with resistance and hostility.”
Following DTS’ announcement, the city voted to keep funding going until the end of June before changing that to August 1st and then finally agreeing to keep it there until September.
The city says it has given the organization $996,300 in 2019, through grants and money for fuel and bus maintenance costs. It adds funding has not been reduced since it was first approved in 2018.
City administration is continuing to work with the DTS board and funding will be reevaluated in September.