Provinces Prop Up Maritime Bus With $900,000 Investment
HALIFAX—All three Maritime provinces are shelling out big money to help keep Maritime Bus in business.
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island will give a combined $900,000 to the company, which owns Maritime Bus and Coach Atlantic.
Maritime Bus is an intercity passenger bus service that runs between the Maritime provinces, including rural routes in Cape Breton and northern New Brunswick.
The private company has been running in the region since Acadian Lines went under in 2012. It also provides parcel freight services, including blood shipped by Canadian Blood Services throughout the Maritime hospital network.
However, Maritime Bus CEO Mike Cassidy has been vocal about how much his company has struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recently, Cassidy said the company lost $33-million in 2020 and will end up losing about $25-million in 2021. During that time, the company’s workforce shrunk to about 175 people, down from more than 500 n 2019.
A big chunk of Tri-Maritime Bus revenue comes from visitors and cruise ships passengers taking tours. Cassidy has said he believes both will return in 2022 and help shore up the company’s financials.
Until then, the provincial governments have stepped in to keep the business running.
In a news release, the Government of Nova Scotia says the money will help the company cover pandemic-related losses as it maintains rural and northern routes. It will also help Maritime Bus “respond to the increased desire to travel as the economy and tourism begin to rebound.”
“Maritime Bus provides an important, accessible, and affordable bus service linking Nova Scotia communities within our province and to our Maritime neighbours,” said Public Works Minister Kim Masland. “We are working with our counterparts in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to keep the service viable.”
The financial support is proportional, based on the ratio of kilometres Maritime Bus drives in each province. It breaks down to about $400,000 from both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and $100,000 from P.E.I.
In New Brunswick, the money will come from the Regional Development Corporation’s Rural Economy Fund. It will be added to more than $700,000 the province gave Tri-Maritime Bus last year.
In January of 2021, the Government of New Brunswick gave the company one-time funding of $360,000 under the public transit category of the Safe Restart Agreement. That was matched by funds from the Regional Development Corporation.
It did so after Maritime Bus threatened to shut down routes between Fredericton and Edmundston, and Moncton and Campbellton.
RELATED: Provincial Funding Keeps Maritime Bus On The Road
“Without intercity transportation services, we would have been isolated,” Edmundsto’s Deputy Mayor, Éric Marquis, said at the time. “Maritime Bus provides accessible and affordable transportation service for people in our region who need to travel to southern New Brunswick for medical care.”
That 2021 round of funding came with a stipulation that Maritime Bus must continue operating its northern New Brunswick routes until the end of the year.
None of the provincial governments suggested in their April 12 announcements that the latest round of money comes with any stipulations. Maritime Bus did not respond to Huddle’s interview requests prior to publication.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].