Codiac Transpo aims to increase ridership by 2%

Codiac Transpo is hoping its first marketing plan will help increase the number of people using the public transit system in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe by about two per cent.

Transit planner Marie-Claire Pierce says the goal of the new strategy is to attract people who have never tried taking the bus, particularly high school students, who will be able to ride for free this summer.

"The riders we're trying to attract certainly are those who may not have any barriers to using the service, but really never considered it before," Pierce said.

High school students are a key target, she said.

"For the months of July and August, we're trying to attract younger riders, those who will be the future riders of our service."

On average, 6,600 people take the bus every day in Moncton. Increasing that by two per cent would add 132 riders each day.

Pierce says the key message in the new marketing material will be a very simple one — "The bus is better."

"A bus is nice and warm, it's better than a cold car and an icy windshield," she said.

Affordable option

The bus is also very affordable for riders, said Pierce.

"In 1896 we had the first transit system here in Moncton — 25 cents a ride. With inflation, that ride would be over $8 and our service is only $2.25, so that makes the bus better," she said.

"No parking, fuel, auto maintenance costs."

Pierce says adjustments to the routes are made three times every year, and although no system is perfect, she is confident ridership will increase with the new marketing plan.

"You'll always have someone who doesn't care for the service and that's fine, but we're trying to attract those who really haven't considered our service before."

Codiac Transpo is subsidized by the City of Moncton. During budget deliberations in December, Mayor George LeBlanc said for every $1 collected by Codiac Tranpo in fares, the city is pumping in more than $3.