Charlotte County bus service to Saint John underway

The Rural Lynx bus service from Charlotte Countyto Saint John has begun,allowingresidents in southwest, N.B. better access to services in the city, 100 kilometers away.

In the last five years, residents of Saint Andrews have had a greater need to get to Saint John as morepublic services centralizein the city, according to StanChoptiany, former mayor of Saint Andrews and president ofSouthwest New Brunswick Transport Authority Inc.

"More of the hospital procedures, the specialists, the courts, numbers of others appointments now exist in Saint John and we need a way to get there," Choptiany said.

"As we identified that need, we realized that transportation by bus was the solution."

Acadian Lines dropped the last public service from SaintStephen to Saint John in 2011.

In its place, more residents have relied onCharlotte County's Dial-a-Ride a volunteer organization that provides free rides forpeople withoutaccess to affordable transportation.

Province funds $500,000 for two-year pilot project

The new bus service was given lifeafterreceiving$500,000 in funding from the province in July enough to sustain the pilot project for roughly two years and take some weight off of the volunteer Dial-a-Ride service.

• Charlotte County gets public transit to Saint John this fall

Rural Lynx is providing thetwice-daily, round-trip service inpartnership with Maritime bus.

The service startsin Saint Stephen and makesstops inSaint Andrews, Saint George,PennfieldandLepreau,heading east to Saint John.

The first bus to Saint John ran last week.

"That was a very exciting time," Choptianysaid.

"It's a full coach, it's comfortable, it's on time.It was just lovely to see."

A round trip ticket to Saint John is expected to run around $50 taxes included.

• Saint Andrews saw record year in tourism, mayor says
• Saint Andrews named top Canadian destination by USA Today