New motorcoaches for some rural P.E.I. transit routes offer a more comfortable ride | CBC News

Starting Tuesday, passengers using rural Prince Edward Island’s public transit service are travelling in the comfort of motorcoach buses on some routes. 

The new 56-seat buses on both the Charlottetown-Summerside and Charlottetown-Souris service are more comfortable for passengers, including washrooms and better heating and air-conditioning systems. 

T3 Transit, which partners with the provincial government to provide the rural service, previously operated buses built on a school bus-type chassis. 

“We were told when we bought them that they would be the right bus for our application. We made a mistake. It did not turn out to be the right piece of equipment,” said T3 Transit owner Mike Cassidy. 

“The older buses… they’re not right, they’re not comfortable, they’re very, very cold in the winter. We’re going to be taking those out of service.”  

Average ridership on the rural transit routes now sits at 650 one-way trips a day, a 35 per cent increase compared to last year, according to figures from the P.E.I. government. 

Cassidy said the Souris route sees about 450 to 500 one-way trips a week, while the Summerside-to-Charlottetown service averages about 2,000 weekly one-way passengers. 

T3 Transit dealing with ‘huge boom’ in traffic this September

T3 Transit owner Mike Cassidy says the bus route between Summerside and Charlottetown has been dealing with record numbers this September. In addition, there are several no-shows booking seats who are keeping other people from using the service.

The province has frozen public transit fares until March 31, 2025, to encourage Islanders to leave their personal vehicles at home and commute by bus.  

Fares are $2 a day, but rides are free for kindergarten to Grade 12 students. Monthly passes are $20 for adults and $10 for seniors and post-secondary students. 

More trips to and from Three Rivers

T3 is also expanding rural transit options for residents of Three Rivers, in eastern P.E.I. 

Starting in January, the company is adding a new route between Charlottetown and the Georgetown and Montague areas in the mornings, and a return route later in the afternoon. Those runs will be done using 24-seat minibuses. 

Cassidy said people who live in Charlottetown and work in Montague have been asking for more options for their commute. 

“We 1733250105 connect Charlottetown to Montague both ways, and we have extra frequencies,” he said.

“There’s more travel options, for example, when you leave Charlottetown and go to Montague or when you leave Montague and go to Charlottetown.”