TRURO - A bus system to serve the greater Truro area is being floated, says Truro Mayor Bill Mills.
He has been approached by an individual, who he did not name, about the proposal.
"From what I see so far, there's probably some pretty good potential there," Mills told the Truro Daily News on Wednesday.
"He has a business plan. He has shown me some pictures of some of the proposed buses and the routes."
Those routes include Truro, Bible Hill, Millbrook, Debert and possibly Brookfield, if there is a demand. Getting Truro area residents to and from work has been identified as an issue in the past.
"They're crying for some kind of a service to get people to and from town and the surrounding area and back," Mills said.
The Colchester Regional Development Agency (CoRDA) investigated transportation options to service workplaces in the Truro region within the past two years. The study looked at everything from human-powered transportation, carpooling and public transport.
A firm sent out 2,499 surveys to 24 organizations in the Truro area in the winter of 2009, and 303 surveys were returned.
"Public transit was rejected as there is currently insufficient funding available," the MRA Research Group report said. "Should funding become available in the future, solutions such as a taxibus system might be considered. It is also recommended that in this event, CTCL should be consulted for its extensive experience of transit in the Truro area."
Mills said there is some provincial funding it may be able to tap into if it applies before late September.
In 2004 a working group looked at options of providing transportation to shift workers at 24-hour businesses in Debert. There was interest from employees, but the price of utilizing the service made it not viable for people and employers did not express interest in subsidizing the operation.
The mayor said he has discussed the issue with Colchester County Mayor Bob Taylor, but the issue has yet to be addressed by either council. Mills said the proposal he saw would not cost either municipal unit too much money.
"To me it's probably one of the most positive things I've seen in a while," he said.
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
