Tideways residents not happy about new bus schedule

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Last week, Wolfville town council expressed a unanimous motion asking Kings Transit to restore hourly service to a seniors’ housing development.

Earlier this month residents of the Tideways Housing Co-op in Wolfville met with Kings Transit representatives to express their displeasure at schedule changes.

Kings Transit general manager Ron Mullins and Wolfville councillor Bill Zimmerman, who sits on the transit board, were greeted by a full house.

“They got the message loud and clear,” said spokesman Sandy MacKinnon. “The new schedule was not going to cut it with the residents.”

Changing to a two-hour schedule from the original one-hour one upset the residents, and so does having to wait at the Baptist Church as opposed to the new downtown bus stop.

“They both agreed the change was unacceptable from the get-go, but Mr. Mullins felt it was the best he could do given the situation. After hearing the residents, they realized this tact was not going to appease the residents.”

MacKinnon said the pair was informed of the hardship individual members were having maintaining their connections with friends.

One member said she traveled the bus every day to meet with friends and this two-hour service, requiring a transfer and the convoluted planning and wait times, was making that difficult to impossible. Others are having trouble making appointments with doctors in Kentville and even traveling into Wolfville to get groceries requires a two-hour wait, let alone going to New Minas to shop.

Just not good enough

Residents made it clear they had moved here with the expectation of relying on the service, he said, and it was just not good enough to tell them that expansion of the service necessitated this change that put them out of the loop.

MacKinnon said, “we are now adopting a wait-and-see attitude, but the residents are fully prepared to show up at the next board meeting in September and have their pens poised to write individual letters to councillors on the Board. I hope (and think) they realize the present situation will not stand up to scrutiny.”

Over 20 residents rely on the service now. Some use it daily while others when required to make appointments and buy groceries, MacKinnon said.

“They dropped the ball here and forgot that people are the priority of the system and they made a mistake others have made to their chagrin before. Never underestimate the power of seniors when you get them riled up.”

Zimmerman had reported the schedule change in June with some trepidation. He noted that the transit service is facing a 41 per cent increase in fuel costs. A 50-cent fare increase has become necessary and might be instituted as early as September.

He noted that some municipal units are opposed to increasing funding. Ironically, he added, those units were also opposed to fare increases. Ridership continues to go up.

‘We need resources to fix the problem’: Mullins

Mullins said last week that pressure on the Greenwood-Kentville end of the system is what forced the schedule change in Wolfville.

“We’re not doing right by Tideways. I understand their argument that a two-hour wait is not acceptable,” he said. “We need resources to fix the problem and, unfortunately, we weren’t successful.”

Mullins says that Kings Transit is waiting to hear what the province will do with the $3 million they announced recently for transportation. He is also hopeful a new express service to Michelin will be approved by Conserve Nova Scotia.

Meanwhile, Wolfville Mayor Bob Stead fears that service to the core area served by Kings Transit is being threatened. The Tideways scenario is just the first indicator.

“As it grows, we have to maintain the integrity of the service and not jeopardize it with links outside Kings County.”

The mayor added, “you can’t complain that too many people are using the service. We just have to fund it more or as best we can.”