Strait Area Transit adds routes and bus to its fleet

Strait Area Transit is steadily building its routes, adding to its fleet of buses and is hoping for longer-term deals with the municipalities it serves.

In the fall, the non-profit rural Cape Breton bus service launched a pilot project, adding a route into Victoria County with a bus between Baddeck and Waycobah twice a day, with connections to Port Hawkesbury.

Then in late February it was given a bus from Inverary Manor in Inverness, which has been added to the fleet, Strait Area Transit general manager Dwayne MacDonald told CBC Cape Breton's Information Morning.  

With only 42,000 kilometres behind it, the vehicle can carry six passengers and five wheelchairs. Strait Area Transit is looking for two more similar buses, MacDonald said.

Receiving a vehicle free of charge isn't the only way the company is saving money these days.  

"One of the drivers is amazing — he can fix anything," MacDonald said, adding he saves the business a lot of money in repair bills.

The hope now is for long-term financial stability. MacDonald believes that can be achieved if three-year funding agreements can be reached with each of the municipalities involved, as opposed to one-year deals.

One-year agreements are "tough," he said, because it takes at least a couple of years to build ridership on its routes.