Everett, WA – My name is Jill Reasoner, and I am a 58-year-old woman who has been legally blind since college. I raised my kids in Monroe, as we could get a bigger and more affordable house out there. In Monroe, I lived one mile from the closest bus stop, which meant that I was outside of the paratransit service area. I lived there for 20 years raising my five kids, and I was really isolated. Friends helped and when my kids grew up they got licenses, but it was a real drag after a while to always rely on them to get around.
Just last year I moved to downtown Everett, so I have access to Everett Transit buses and Paratransit and they pick me up right in front of my condo building. It’s just so freeing to be able to be independent. I feel like I can go anywhere in Snohomish and King Counties on the Dart and Access buses. And yes it does take some time, but I’m just thankful to be able to have the opportunity to be able to go out on my own and not have to depend on family or friends. The difference in my sense of independence is night and day.
My oldest kid and his baby live in Everett and I help take care of her. I’m taking courses at the Department of Services for the Blind where they teach blindness skills. My girlfriend’s house is ten minutes from the light rail in Lynnwood, so I take the regular bus to the light rail, then take that all the way down to Columbia City. From there, it’s a quick walk to the school three days a week. I am working a remote part-time job so I can do that in my free time. I am able to get myself to and from these places because of the bus system and the trains. The freedom to go and be independent is so important for my self-esteem, my sense of self, and trust in myself to “adult” properly. I don’t wanna be that friend who is always asking for rides. I don’t have to be anymore and it just feels so good.
I am so grateful for this freedom of movement, and at the same time, being reliant on public transit means I have to do a lot of extra planning. I have to schedule my Paratransit rides days ahead of time, and be prepared for them to come late, or take longer once I’m on board to drop others off. Sometimes Dart will change my pick up time to significantly earlier. If I’m at the doctor’s office, I can’t leave early, and have to figure out another way home.
Imagine that every time you wanted to go for a drive, your keys wouldn’t work for half an hour. It was out of your hands, and you had no other way to get where you were going. That’s what it feels like to be reliant on infrequent public transit. As you can imagine, if the bus came twice as frequently, it would be like you only had to wait for your keys to work for just a few minutes rather than a half an hour. It would make such a difference in so many lives, to have the ability to go where we want to, when we want to! Thank you for serving our community and listening to our stories.