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The history of TOTTS INC (Townsville and Thuringowa Transport Solutions)
developed out of Townsville Region Committee on the Ageing Inc. (TRCOTA).
It had its roots in the ever increasing demand at all senior workshops
in 1990/1991 and the Labor Party Policy to supply a bus to support
seniors in Townsville at that time.
The Public Transport Study in 1992 proposed any further development to
provide transport for seniors be delayed and a further investigation
after Public Transport in bus transport and wheel chair capability both
by bus and taxi be acceptable to the community.
A Cabinet Decision No 02084 of 15th December 1997 required
that Queensland Transport to act as the lead agency in developing a
whole-of –Government policy framework to address access problems with
health, and Community related transport in remote and rural Queensland.
(Personal Access and Mobility in an Ageing Society) 30th
March 2001. The Cabinet realized there were gaps in the existing system
and the Department was required to close those “gaps”. However the
Department was of the opinion that Government could not solve the
problem on its own, and that it was the responsibility of everyone to
take action to fill those gaps and every one of us should encourage
others to also get involved. Finance should not only be supplied from
department of transport, but also from other Government Departments and
semi government and from the Corporate Sector. There is a perception
that the community must think outside the square to try to fill the gaps
along with others and that is exactly what the elderly was trying to do.
In 2000, after a hiatus of 8 years the senior people of both cities
decided that the Public Transport System was still not meeting the
needs of socially isolated seniors and TRCOTA established a
Sub-committee in 2000 to process the earlier 1990 report from the
seniors to Government to provide the much needed independent transport
for seniors.
This history is an amalgamation of Reports, Minutes, opinions and
observations over many years and illustrates the development of a scheme
in Townsville/Thuringowa with the help of many people and the
Ministerial Forums. However it still has a long way to reach its final
goal of providing transport to seniors who need transport to improve
their quality of life. It is reasonable to expect that once seniors lose
their ability to drive a car there must be an alternative in place to
provide transport to prevent social isolation and all the health costs
to Government associated with isolation. The Management of TOTTS INC
believes all community buses should be under the control of TOTTS INC
and dispatched to users as and when they need them. They believe a
significant cost advantage would be served by this approach. The scheme
envisaged would hopefully be a blueprint for the rest of the State.
Future plans are in hand to update a Business Plan and provide flexible
affordable transport and increasing the membership and providing a
strong Management Team. (Click for more information:
History) |
