Bridgewater Transit poised to mark ridership milestone

Bridgewater Transit is set to hit a major milestone next week and the Town of Bridgewater and Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce are ready to celebrate.

On either Tuesday or Wednesday, based on projections, Bridgewater Transit will provide its 100,000^th passenger ride in just under four years of service.

"It's an accomplishment that underscores just how much the service means to the community and how desperately it was needed," explained Mayor David Mitchell.

"When we started the transit service, we believed that our community would embrace it as a way of accessing services - grocery shopping, medical appointments, getting to and from work.  It's become part of people's daily routine," Mayor Mitchell said. "But when you hear the stories from people whose lives were fundamentally changed for the better because of access to transit, you really start to understand how much it means to our town."

Launched in the fall of 2017 as a six-month pilot project to test the viability of transit in Bridgewater, it quickly became apparent that there was significant need for transit service in the community.

Prior to launch, a transit feasibility study had estimated that the service might achieve 16,000 rides per year, but in its first full year of operation transit, in fact, provided approximately 25,000 rides.

Since then ridership levels have remained high, hitting 31,000 in 2018-19 and 28,000 in 2019-20, even with service impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We started out averaging around 50 riders a day, but now we're in the range of 125 per day," Mayor Mitchell noted. "And there's such an important social component - people aren't just using the bus to get to services. They're using transit to visit friends, to go to parks and playgrounds, and to build relationships with other folks in our community. You can't put a price on things like that."

CELEBRATION
In celebration of the milestone and in support of the local business community as Phase 2 of Nova Scotia's reopening plan gets into full swing, the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) is excited to partner with the Town of Bridgewater to sponsor FREE bus rides during the milestone week.

Residents and visitors alike can use the bus as often as they want at no cost between June 21 and 26.

"The Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce would like to congratulate the Bridgewater Transit on this historic milestone in its service," said BACC President Jim Brown. "We are honored to be able to support and celebrate this achievement and, as we enter our next phase of reopening, we encourage everyone to enjoy a trip on us, and enjoy our beautiful town and support our local businesses."

QUICK FACTS
▪ Bridgewater Transit's service began with two surplus buses donated by Halifax Regional Municipality
▪ In 2020, Bridgewater secured two new buses with the support of the Province of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada
▪ Bridgewater Transit runs an hourly 16-km loop of Bridgewater
▪ In total, the buses have travelled more than 13,000 loops of the town, totaling over 215,000 kms, in almost 1,200 days of service
▪ You can follow the bus online through our transit tracker in real time; visit www.bridgewater.ca/bus