Those in need of a way to get around town this holiday season are in for a treat.
The Town of Bridgewater, in partnership with the LaHave River Credit Union, is providing an extra day of public transport completely free.
The town’s bus will be free for use each Sunday leading up to Christmas to give hopeful Christmas shoppers a way around.
Patrick Hirtle, communications for the town, said the initiative is in its second year and found great success during last year’s Christmas rush.
“People were incredibly happy to have that extra day of service,” he said.
“For a lot of folks, Sunday is the only day they have to get around town and do their errands or shopping. Especially in the run up to the Holiday Season, they found it was a tremendous additional asset to have access to the service on Sundays.”
He also said the initiative spoke to the original vision of having a transit system in the town – To provide residents a way around town and to promote local business.
Being able to do those things during the holidays just made sense.
But also, the Sunday free rides provide some residents with reliable transportation during this busy time of the year, Hirtle said, something they may not have elsewhere.
“The reality is that for a number of different reasons there are folks who don’t have access to a vehicle or don’t have their own way around Bridgewater,” said Hirtle.
“So to offer this service at a pretty busy time of year for everyone, it just seemed like an ideal thing to do.”
The bus held its first free Sunday yesterday and will run each remaining Sunday up to Christmas from 11 am to 6 pm.
