Acadian bus strike good business for shuttles

The decision by Acadian Coach Lines to pull its buses off the road Friday is good news for two Halifax-to-Prince Edward Island shuttle van businesses as they step in to fill the void.

The regional bus company is locking out employees and shutting down operations in P.E.I . and New Brunswick due to a labour dispute.

The strike means the 7:40 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily return trips from P.E.I. to Halifax on Acadian Lines will be cancelled. As a result, two Island shuttle companies are seeing a huge boost in business.

"I was even asking my secretary on the first day, 'What's going on with the shuttle that we're so busy?' and then somebody told me Acadian Lines was threatening strike and stuff and it just made perfect sense," said David Anderson, who runs Summerside-based Advanced Shuttle. 

Anderson said one of his two 15-person vans is completely booked for Thursday, and he's considering putting another van on the road.

"The last week, we've probably doubled our client reservations compared to last year's bookings. We've also noticed that there's a lot more frieght that we're hauling," he said.

Krista Gillis-MacKay, who operates PEI Express Shuttle, said one of her 10-person vans is also sold out for Thursday and she's already taking bookings for a second shuttle.

"We have had a lot of calls, preparing for it," said Gillis-MacKay. "If they do strike, then we can meet the demands of a lot of people."

She said her company is gearing up for the possibility all three of her vans will be on the road, perhaps with multiple runs between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.

"Well we've got three shuttles that we could put on the road on a daily basis, plus we've got the drivers to drive them," said Don Bolan, who also works for PEI Express Shuttle.

Acadian has been operating in the Maritimes for decades. But recently, passenger numbers have been falling.

Buses usually carry about 10 or 15 people each trip. Still, people boarding Thursday said the service is necessary.

"It's definitely essential for people going to New Brunswick that don't own a car, cause there's no shuttles or anything," said passenger Leah MacLean.