The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg wants to be included in the Town of Bridgewater’s transit plan and they have now officially made the inquiry.
MODL council voted in favor of writing a letter to the town, requesting the extension of the Public Transit Service to Osprey Village (shopping centre near Exit 12).
According to Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell, he’s open to the idea, although there are multiple complications.
“When a bus crosses municipal lines (as it would if the bus were to go to Osprey Village) you then are subject to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, which limits our flexibility to use our busses as we wish,” Mitchell said.
MODL are aware of this issue, as was reflected in the council meeting agenda which stated “Staff will be contacting the UARB to discuss the challenges that have been identified by the Town (Bridgewater).”
Extending the route to Osprey Village also makes the current bus route longer.
The current bus circuit runs on a one-hour loop which makes scheduling very easy on the hour, but once you break the hour mark, the schedule is no longer consistent and becomes “wonky”, Mitchell said.
The current TOB transit route takes an hour to complete. Photo: Town of Bridgewater
Currently, the bus route ends with a left turn from North Street onto LaHave Street effectively ending the circuit.
By extending the route, transit becomes more expensive to operate, so how much more it costs and who will be paying for what is another question that needs to be answered.
The last issue raised by Mitchell was how this would impact commercial taxpayers.
Osprey Village is a major shopping hub for the South Shore, with major retailers like Wal-Mart, Staples, and Canadian Tire.
However even though it is so close to Bridgewater, it is technically in Cookville and as such is not subject to Bridgewater’s commercial taxes.
“Part of transit’s funding comes from commercial taxes, so effectively Bridgewater businesses would be paying to have a program that would now take people away from town to competitors that do not pay our commercial taxes,” said Mitchell.
In spite of these challenges, Mitchell still seemed receptive to the idea.
“I always want to hear about ways we can help the South Shore, but in this case we need to answer these questions and see how we can best serve the needs of the town and the community,” he said.
MODL have moved the issue along to their Policy & Strategy Committee who will discuss solutions at a future meeting.
