The Bus Experiment: Day 2

My previous blog described Heather Stewart’s experience of the Kings Transit system. It generated significant interest. Heather had more comments after Friday. I will try to summarize them below.
1) if you decide to come home early from your meeting in Annapolis Royal, you are restricted to a two hour time window because the buses run every two hours.

2) the bus schedule in Annapolis Royal is different if you are heading east or west.
For example:
4E Champlain Seniors, Guardian Drugs, Wharf and Farmers Market, Annapolis Royal Fire Department, Granville Family Services.

4W Granville Family Services, Foodland/SaveEasy, St. George St, Historic Gardens, Annapolis  Community Health Centre, Champlain Seniors.

How do you know where the bus stops are located ? Do residents know where the bus stops are ? Are they marked? Are there any bus shelters?

3) on the bus, you are subject to the behaviour of the other passengers, who may be experiencing personal issues. If you drive your own car, then you are in your own bubble.

Another observation is that the bus travels on Hwy #1.  If you live on Hwy #201, there are limited number of bridges over the Annapolis River. e.g. Lawrencetown, Paradise, Bridgetown, Annapolis Royal. Also, what service is available if you live on the Bay of Fundy Shore?

In response to my earlier blog, I received the following  Guardian link to the situation in England. There, too, there are limited bus routes in rural areas.

Could we not adapt the ArrivaClick application to suit the geography of  Annapolis County? Sounds like an excellent project for the COGS Innovation Hub.

This weekend, we stopped in Truro on our way to New Glasgow. At the NovelTea Bookstore Cafe, I picked up, for $5.00, B.W.Powe’s book Towards a Canada of Light. At the end he offers seven Coda. Here are three:

May the ability to see a future keep us bold.

May the ability to perceive patterns that are yet to be fully realized keep us directed in our hearts and minds.

May the ability to communicate and face facts, and yet to dream new dreams and to imagine fuller lives, give us the sweet strength we need.

Acknowledgements

Heather for braving the unknowns of rural  bus travel in Annapolis County. To Peter Maher for the Guardian link. Edward for finding the time to add graphics.

Reference

L Hanley, “When the Bus Ride to Your Destination is Just a Click Away” TheGuardian.com, 19 Feb 2020.
B.W.Powe. 2006. Towards a Canada of Light. Thomas Allen Publishers.