Connecting Charlottetown and Cavendish
Workers pay $10, tourists $25 for new Cavendish bus service
A new bus service has been set up primarily as an effort to get tourism workers from Charlottetown to the Cavendish area during the summer. The City Beach Express was organized and promoted by private business interests in Cavendish, plus tourism promotion organization in both Charlottetown and Cavendish. “There are plenty of jobs available, but in a seasonal, rural community like Cavendish, there aren’t enough locals to fill those jobs,” said Sandi Lowther, chairwoman of Tourism Cavendish Beach and owner of a number of properties in the area. “Factor in the cost of travel, and the further away someone lives, the less attractive those jobs become.” Lowther and several other business owners in the Cavendish area worked with the provincial government, Discover Charlottetown, Tourism Cavendish Beach, and the Resort Municipality to create the City Beach Express.
The bus service makes three trips each day.
The City Beach Express is timed so workers can make morning and evening shifts and have transportation home, said an announcement from the P.E.I. government. There are a number of pick up and drop off locations on the north shore and in Charlottetown.
A round trip is $25 for travelers. Workers from sponsoring businesses pay $10.
Five local businesses contributed a total of $5,500 to help subsidize the cost of the service for their workers. The provincial government provided $35,000 to help fund the project and to give the bus itself a special paint job for a quick way to identify it. “Discover Charlottetown is very excited to be part of this project and help visitors see more of the Island, in a unique way,” chairman of Discover Charlottetown Lee Drake said. “Visitors Staying in Cavendish can now visit Charlottetown for supper and entertainment, and then take the bus back to Cavendish.
This is a great example of a tourism success story when groups work together.”
See the bus website at https://www.citybeachexpress.com/