CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — It has been a record-breaking month for T3 Transit in Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford.
Mike Cassidy, who runs the operation for the three municipalities, said he and staff always expect a bump when students return to class but nothing like this.
“This year, we have all remarked that we can’t believe the amount of people using the buses,’’ Cassidy said. “University Avenue (the service’s top route), last week, we were leaving customers behind.’’
In November 2018, the record for a single day was 2,850 passenger fares. Last September, the service was doing between 2,400 and 2,600 passenger fares per day.
On Sept. 3 this year, a new benchmark was set. T3 Transit put through 3,040 passengers in one day.
“We were rather excited. We had never seen 3,000 before in our lives.’’
But it didn’t stop there. The next day, they did 3,401 and the day after that the number jumped to 3,350 passengers.
So, the service has gone from averaging 2,400 to 2,600 fares per day a year ago to averaging 3,000 to 3,400 fares in a single day.
As for Saturdays, T3 had been averaging 1,100 fares to 1,400 fares. This month, that number has jumped to 1,600 passengers.
T3 Transit is celebrating its 14th anniversary this month. It was launched with the University Avenue run in 2005.
“At certain times in the perimeter, you're seeing buses completely full and (it’s) standing room only. The ridership has exploded this fall.’’
To handle the extra traffic, Cassidy has added a second bus leaving downtown Charlottetown at 8 a.m. and a second one leaving the Charlottetown Mall at 8:15 a.m.
“We’ve (also) added extra times in the morning and the afternoon to try to make sure that we look after our customers and, as of last Thursday, the changes that we’ve made to the frequency and the amount of buses appears to be working,’’ Cassidy said.
In Stratford, T3 was averaging between 150 and 170 fares per day last year. Those numbers have jumped to a daily average of 210 to 250 this month. Cassidy said the drivers are telling him all the seats on their buses are filled.
In Cornwall, the average was between 53 and 65 passengers a day, and those numbers have jumped to between 130 and 150 per day. Cassidy said he credits the use of the Dutch Inn as a student residence for the boost.
Cassidy added T3 has added runs in Cornwall, at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m.
And, T3 has been serving Cornwall and Stratford on weekends this month as well. In total, T3 services Cornwall and Stratford five times per day.
“In all communities, yes, we’re seeing students, college and university, but we are (also) seeing new faces, working commuters (and) we’re seeing students in Cornwall and Stratford where we’d never seen students living before . . . this has been a very busy two weeks for us. Public transit, today, in my opinion, has become an essential service.’’