Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Public Transit Group Exploring Pilot Project for Bus Service

A group advocating for a bus service through Lunenburg County is proposing a three-year pilot project with local municipalities. Barbara Carthew and Jack Schoon with the Citizens for Public Transit presented the option to Bridgewater council Monday night. They spoke about setting up a bus service that would travel through Bridgewater, Municipality of Lunenburg, the town of Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. Carthew says having buses available would be a positive for people in Lunenburg County including seniors.
"That would be a great boon to them because often they have to cancel hospital appointments, etc, etc. Some of the people would be people who are now wanting to go to the community college for upgrading their skills, so they can join the job market. Some of the people are people who are on social assistance or have court appointments and have no means of transportation."
The group is looking at running two 26-passenger buses, with a third as a spare, running fixed routes and schedules around the county. They are hoping to receive 50% funding from the province while the other 50% would be divided between the four municipalities. Bridgewater council referred the matter to senior management staff.