![['Trius Transit driver Chris Melanson drove the first official route Tuesday for Summerside’s new public transportation system. Although he only picked up about a dozen passengers – some who rode for free – the Summerside native says residents will get used to the service.']](https://saltwire.imgix.net/city-transit-2116441.jpg?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=enhance%2Cformat%2Ccompress)
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - Nancy Quinn, economic development officer for the City of Summerside, said the survey was concluded two weeks ago and the results are being tabulated but there is a second component yet to come.
“We got a lot of hard copy back and we had to input it,” Quinn said. “We sent out hard copies in the July electric bill to help encourage people to get say to us. We’re tabulating it all now. The report will come at the end of September. We want to cover off the student corps coming into Holland College as part of the information.”
Quinn said, based the number of respondents, the city should have a good gauge on what the public would like to to see in a public transit system.
“Both the online survey response and the hard copy survey response were very good,” she said. We have enough to say that the results should be pretty accurate. It’s a good number. There has been feed back coming via email.”
Quinn would like to have people contact her and talk to her directly, either by email or by telephone.
“I would love to hear from people particularly if they would like to be involved in an interview or in a one-hour focus group. We are not taking any more surveys because we’ve closed the survey end.”
The idea of a public transit system did get a thumbs-up from respondents and the city will be reviewing those responses to deal with the issue.
“I think most people recognize that a transit system is something that a city needs to have,” Quinn said. “How that looks ion Summerside? People are all over the place on it. It’s got to be a cost/value service. How we decide to pursue it, one way or the other, that has to be given some consideration at the study level or at the council level.”
The financial issue involved in a public transit system is a detail that needs to be worked out.
“Funding is always an issue,” Quinn said. “We’ve been continuing to support the pilot project. There are parts of the pilot project that, clearly, people appreciate but there have been suggestions from different people on how they think it could be improved. It gives a guideline for council to move forward on. The survey information, once interpreted, will also guide them as they review the budget system on the pilot project.”
A public transit system will also provide an opportunity for advertising for local business and the city
“There are lots of models where motor coaches do lease out space for wrapping where they work in partnership with other companies,” Quinn said. “There are a couple of different ways of advertising with the bus. Depending on how the motor coach is, you can have the inside advertising or external. On external, there is temporary advertising. That’s higher priced and it’s not intended to be short-term. Trius has some advertising models that they use. The current transit is not something that the city owns and it hasn’t been in a position to influence it widely. It’s Mike Cassidy’s operation.”
