The bus will keep on rolling in Bridgewater.
Council voted to make the town transit service permanent at this week’s meeting.
Mayor David Mitchell says at first, there may have been some hesitation from people paying for a service they may not use.
“But I think the reality, when they see ridership numbers like 37,000, people realize that yes, there’s are a lot of people that need the service and those people need our help to provide that service.”
Mitchell says in its 18 months of operation, the service has far exceeded expectations.
“Our cost per rider target was around the $12 mark. What we realized was a cost per rider at six dollars which obviously is half of what we anticipated.”
Mitchell says that cost is lower than the rural Halifax routes.
The town received two buses from Halifax in 2017 to prove there would be a demand for the service.
Now that the transit service is permanent, Mitchell says the town will look to other levels of government for funding to replace the aging buses.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
