Nelson will not only have free transit on Canada Day, but given that the holiday falls on a Sunday there will also be a return of Sunday service for the day.
The Nelson Transit Community Group, with the help of local bus drivers, the City of Nelson and BC Transit, are providing free bus service for those planning on enjoying the festivities.
“The schedule that we’re proposing is starting at 9 a.m. there would be a schedule that would run throughout the day using one bus to cover all of the routes in Nelson and it would take approximately an hour to cover all of the routes with one bus with a break for both lunch an dinner,” said Barry Nelson who is part of the community group.
Three local bus drivers are volunteering their time to drive one bus that will cover all of the Uphill, Rosemont and Fairview routes.
“They are all volunteering, there is no cost to the City in salaries,” said Nelson.
As part of the event, the Community Group has also organized “special happenings” on one of the bus routes through out the day.
The free bus service is part of an ongoing effort by the group to get riders on to the buses.
We have a number of proposals that we have worked out that we think will help get people on the bus,” said Nelson. “There are a number of events that attract people into the downtown area, a good opportunity to provide a reduced cost or at least on a pilot project free transit in an effort to encourage people.”