Michael Cassidy was working it Monday at the revived Grafton Street bus terminus, with a two-way radio cracking, the public walking up with questions and The Guardian on his cell phone.
It was day one for a whole new makeover of the transit system in Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford so Cassidy was taking to the streets to check it out.
"It seems great," he said as his radio crackled with traffic reports. "So far, so good.
"I'm in the heat of the battle here," said Cassidy while turning his radio down for the interview.
"To put it in perspective, we were pretty excited in 2005 when we launched this system but back then I staggered the route launch.
"Today I have 11 buses on the go, and we changed the system for Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford with the extra times, the extra frequencies."
There are 22 staff employed by Trius Transit.
"I am saying that with all of the changes, I am giving the staff and what we have done a strong 8.5 out of 10 (on the first day)," said Cassidy. "I am very pleased."
Buses now travel up and down University Avenue from the Charlottetown Mall to Confederation Centre every 15 minutes in both directions.
"We now have moved from the front of the library on Queen Street to back where we used to be, on Grafton Street alongside the Confederation Centre," said Cassidy.
Also in the system is a big bus loop around the perimeter of the city core, with buses going around the loop in one hour, in each direction. There are enough buses for departures every half hour.
He is getting good reports from members of the travelling public about the new green T3 bus-stop signs.
Each sign contains information on the times a bus stops at that location.
"It's great to see the response, with people standing looking at the signs and understanding when they can get picked up," said Cassidy of his travels through the city Monday.
"Everything is now worked around the top of the hour, the bottom of the hour, the 15 and the 45 minutes of the hour," said Cassidy. "Its seamless and there is no wait with our new system."
One route did get in trouble Monday after a bus got caught behind a school bus.
"What we are doing for this month, I am double checking all the times to make sure that everything flows properly," said Cassidy.
That is why he stuck a "Pilot Test" stamp on the new schedules.
"I want to have the flexibility in the month of February to have a look at it and make any changes that are necessary," said Cassidy.
Great the transit system is working smoothly and people are using it . My concern is where you are parked . Beside the Confed Center. on Grafton St. This street has just enough room for 2 way traffic. Yesterday one of the busses was parked on an angle in the traffic lane while Mike ?? was in the middle of the road running back and forth with his 2-way radio . This is another accident waiting to happen . The view for drivers is diminished and the traffic flow is stopped . All this on one of the main streets through Ch'Town . They really need a place to pull off the road when parked . Alot of times there are 2 or 3 busses stopped at the same time .