Would you take the bus to Bell Island? Metro-area mayors want your input
Torbay Mayor Craig Scott asking metro-area residents to fill out public transit survey
Several communities along Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula coast are banding together to explore creating their own public transit system.
The municipalities that make up the Killick Coast — Torbay, Bauline, Flatrock, Bell Island, Pouch Cove, Portugal Cove–St. Philip's, and Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove — have launched a feasibility study into the proposed project.
"The main focus is going to be about connecting our communities together in this area," Torbay Mayor Craig Scott told CBC.
Scott says residents of his town have historically expressed interest in a public transit system. The town even explored joining the Metrobus system, which serves St. John's, Mount Pearl and Paradise areas, but that didn't make financial sense at the time.
Scott says Torbay is now exploring a public transit system in tandem with the metro-area municipalities, however.
"It has to be a partnership between everyone if it's going to work," he said.
But a project of that size, he adds, requires public input about what people are willing to pay and what routes they're interested in having.
There's an online survey available for people to fill out and copies in participating town offices, he said, as well as upcoming public information sessions.
"It's crucial that we understand exactly what type of system that our residents need. This is not meant to be something that's gonna probably bring people back and forth to work. It's more about connecting our communities together and connecting us to the City of St. John's Metrobus system," said Scott.
He added the feedback they get will also influence how long it could take to roll out a public transit system.
"The stronger the case we have, and the interest that we have from residents, the more likely that that will move forward quickly," he said.
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With files from The St. John’s Morning Show