(Image: Maritime Bus/Facebook)
The owner of Maritime Bus said he breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing provincial funding would allow the company to maintain two routes to northern New Brunswick.
In mid-January, the company announced it would halt service between Edmundston and Fredericton and between Moncton and Campbellton due to COVID-19 pandemic-related losses.
Last week, the province announced it would provide $720,000 to subsidize the routes until the end of 2021.
“There was a sigh of relief because Maritime Bus has been operating for the last eight years, and the efficiency in what we do for our passengers and same-day parcel freight, you really need all three provinces participating to make this bus service work and give the customer service that we have been used to,” said Mike Cassidy, owner of the bus service.
Cassidy has run the company for the past eight years, and he considers the northern routes a point of personal pride.
“I made the decision in 2013 to restore seven days a week service to the Miramichi area of Moncton… and extended the service seven days a week to Bathurst, Dalhousie, and Campbellton,” Cassidy said. “I had to change that in January. So naturally, it bothered me.”
“I made a commitment to the north eight years ago, and that commitment stands, and that’s gratifying.”
Though the funding agreement will lapse next January, Cassidy aims to continue its routes to Campbellton and Edmundston into 2022.
“My attitude has always been ‘Maritime Bus is here to stay.’ We love doing what we do, my staff and myself have spent eight years trying to build this business, and we just need help to get through these COVID-19 times,” he said.
Cassidy says the best part of the news was being able to let his staff know the company would be able to continue working in the area.
“As important as the money can be to your business, the most important thing yesterday was that I could look at my staff and say ‘we’re still going to go to work Monday.'”
