Charlotte County will likely lose its only public transportation link to Saint John at the end of this month. Maritime Bus plans to make its last daily round trip from St. Stephen to Saint John on May 31, company president Mike Cassidy confirms in an interview from Charlottetown, P.E.I.
     The New Brunswick Energy and Public Utilities Board still has to approve the plan, and the public will have a chance to comment, according to Kathleen Mitchell with the regulatory agency. However, the run averaged only five passengers per day and needs 25 to sustain itself, according to the announcement on Maritime Bus' website that the service would end. The decision came with the end of the Charlotte County Transportation Pilot Project, which the provincial government announced in July 2017.
     According to a release, the province would provide $500,000 to the Southwest New Brunswick Transit Authority Inc. (SWNBTAI) for a two‑year pilot project for a scheduled bus service connecting Charlotte County communities with Saint John. Maritime Bus was named the contractor and made its first run in September 2017.
     The money runs out at about the end of this month, says SWNBTAI Chair Stan Choptiany, former mayor of St. Andrews. Ridership did not grow as fast as proponents had hoped and, 20 months later, Cassidy says he cannot not justify running the bus at a loss. "That market is suggesting to us that there is no need for a bus service between St. Stephen and Saint John," he says.
     Still, both Choptiany and Councillor Ghislaine Wheaton, St. Stephen's representative on the SWNBTAI board, argue that a different model could work in Charlotte County. An "on demand" van service such as the one in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, might draw more riders than a scheduled bus service making regular stops, Choptiany and Wheaton both say. "A scheduled service cannot meet some needs," Choptiany said. The Maritime Bus schedule did not always work well for Charlotte County people with medical appointments in the city, he offers as an example.      Seniors and people with mobility issues need "door‑to‑door" service, he contends.
     Customers would book the van a couple of days in advance, and fares per passengers could be reduced on a "shared ride" basis, Choptiany says. He is "pretty sure that the van option would be the best option. We think there is room for an entrepreneur to work with us."
    "It's been a learning experience," Wheaton, a retired teacher, says. "I really see a need for some type of transportation," she says. However, she notes, "The numbers are not great enough to sustain the bus."
     "I'm disappointed. I was hoping we could make a go of it. It's not going to happen," she says. "The province cannot put in that amount of money for a few people."
     Smaller vans might work, especially with people getting older and many health services in Fredericton and Saint John, she says. "And people are not used to waiting, you know what I mean? Because the car was there," Wheaton says. "I'm thinking, in the future, you will not be able to drive a car."
     There are grants available, but right now SWNBTAI does not have another partner to work with on a new proposal, Choptiany says. SWNBTAI's 16‑member board will meet to decide what to do next, he says. "None of us are business people, but we are all people who have learned a lot."
     "We're going to have a meeting and see where we're going to go, but we cannot do this alone," Wheaton says.