Bowen LIFT (Linking Islanders Through Friendly Transportation) has a new Bowen LIFT Champion.
Throughout this summer, Bowen LIFT will be highlighting islanders who are giving Bowen LIFT a try.
This month it’s Kat Kelly, a longtime user of many types of ride sharing. We asked her to try out the new LIFT stop near Bowen Island Community School and let us know what happened when she did.
She told us that she had never used that particular stop before and she was pleasantly surprised as she only had to wait a couple of minutes before someone picked her up.
She found the stop to be a convenient and safe way to let people know she was looking for a lift. She says that ride sharing makes it possible for her family to have only one car and that’s better for the planet and her pocketbook.
Five years ago, the RCMP began giving tickets to hitchhikers on Bowen. Their point: It was not safe to have cars stopping on Bowen’s narrow, winding roads.
The agreed upon solution was to have LIFT stops built at safe locations where people can wait safely and cars can pull off safely.
To date, Bowen LIFT has co-ordinated the installation of 24 LIFT stops all over the island, built to standards that are good for both hitchhikers and drivers.
Check out the new stops at the Tunstall Bay beach, near the Killarney Lake picnic area heading to the Cove and at Hood Point, to name a few.
Kelly’s story is a good reminder that using Bowen LIFT stops can be an alternative to driving a car as it provides a safe way to connect drivers and riders at designated pullouts throughout the island.
Bowen LIFT also has a Facebook group where members can post both rides offered and riders looking for rides for destinations on and off-island.
Go to bowenlift.com to find out more or to join the Bowen LIFT Facebook group.
This piece was submitted by DG Blair of the LIFT program.
