T3 Transit rethinking New Year's Eve bus schedule

Growing ridership for T3 Transitcould lead to changes inservice for New Year's Eve 2019.

There was no bus service on New Year's Eve after 6 p.m. this year.

"We have never operated on New Year's Eve," said Mike Cassidy, owner of T3 Transit.

Onceshops begin to shut down, the transit company has traditionally stoppedservice for the evening.

Cassidy saidthe company did not receive any customer complaints about the lack of serviceoverNew Year's Eve.

Perhaps we should be looking at a task force to understand what should be done better. Mike Cassidy, owner, T3 Transit

Since 2005, the transit service has been operating in Stratford, Charlottetown and Cornwall.

The first year of transit servicesaw about 100,000 riders that number has grown to over 500,000 ridersover this past year, Cassidy said.

Time for a task force?

"I'm very happy that people are asking for bus service," he said. Cassidy remembers a time when there was discussion over whether there should be a bus service at all.

Cassidy saidif there is a void in service that needs to be filledit might be time to reach out to taxi companies and local governments tosee what improvements could be made to local transit.

"Perhaps we should be looking at a task force to understand what should be done better," Cassidy said.

A possible solution, hesaid, could be a text-based service for New Year's Eve where riders could text dispatchers and buses could transport between 24 to 40 people at a time, collecting groups of people at an agreed upon locationand taking them to their destinations.

Customers could then book a time when they would like to be picked up and taken back to their original location, he said.

Cassidy said he is eager to collaborate on figuring out new ways to "provide a good experience for our residents of the city getting back and forth on New Year's [Eve]."

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