Cornwall transit cut going to vote

Cornwall council will vote this week on a resolution on whether to withdraw from the Charlottetown regional transit system.

The town is required to give six months notice before ending the service. Cornwall finance committee chair Coun. Minerva McCourt​ McCourt said the town has been concerned about the cost in relation to the number of people using the bus.

McCourt told CBC News that the town had notified the other partners in T3 Transit Tuesday, which includes Charlottetown, Stratford and the transit operator.

"The notice is that there will be a resolution coming forth at the council meeting to end our service with Trius Transit,"

"It has been a long debate this transit. Every month our figures show that ridership is down, for the past year and if not longer. The service has now been in for five years. One would expect that our ridership would be growing rather than decreasing. When people really want a service they come forth and use the service."

McCourt said the bus service costs the town $75,000 a year for operating costs, and capital costs were expected to go up in the new year. She said it would cost the town a total of $155,000 for 2014.

T3 Transit owner Mike Cassidy was on the Cornwall buses Wednesday morning letting Cornwall passengers know about the situation.

"I respect the elected officials of Cornwall, and if there is a transit discontinuation in Cornwall, I want to reach out to the passengers to say there could be an option," said Cassidy.

"Maybe I could provide a shuttle service in the morning and a shuttle service in the afternoon, just to get the majority of my customers into Charlottetown and back home at the end of the day."

Cassidy said he can't make any promises, but said he will try to provide some kind of service if Cornwall decides to opt out of T3.

He still hopes councillors will see the merits of having a full transit system in the town.