Transit Bus Update

The following is an update on the development of a community Flexible Bus service for the Ketch Harbour/Sambro Loop area:

At the request of Councillor Stephen Adams and the Municipality, Bruce Holland, Executive Director of the Spryfield Business Commission, has been actively working with a group of community volunteers, including HRM and Provincial resource people, to find a replacement for the Ketch Harbour/Sambro Loop Metro Transit bus, which is stops operating August 21, 2017. An initial meeting was held in January with a small group of volunteers, where it was determined preliminary research was necessary needed and an application needed to be made to the Provincial Community Bus Service Funding Program to conduct that research. Bruce recently received feasibility study/business plan funding from the Province to look at a flexible community bus service to serve the needs of the entire Ketch Harbour/Sambro Loop more effectively, meeting specific needs of students, workers, seniors and others who depend on transit. After receiving funding, a second meeting was held in May, which included residents of Ketch Harbour, Sambro, Williamswood and Portuguese Cove where Council Adams and Bruce Holland provided an update on a potential replacement for the current bus service. The approval of this funding puts the community well on its way to providing an effective, efficient, and flexible bus service which will be developed with a eye to also encouraging more people to take advantage of public transit. A public meeting will held in June, (at a soon to be determined date) as part of the feasibility study, to get input from the community, as to what needs exist and what a community bus service should look like for the Ketch Harbour/Sambro Loop area.

• Email chris.stover@ns.sympatico.ca