Door-to-door transportation service fills transit gap in rural St. Mary's

Darlene Naugle had difficulties getting around the small community of Port Bickerton on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore when she moved to area from Alberta three years ago to care for her sick daughter.

The retiree was unable to run errands, like getting groceries, without a vehicle.

That changed for Naugle last October when a community transportation system called Smart-Go was introduced in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary's. 

"I felt like I died and went to heaven because of the fact that I'm so isolated, I don't drive and I don't know anyone here," said Naugle. 

'There was a big need for it' 

The transportation program is run by the St. Mary's Association for Rural Transit, a non-profit dedicated to providing door-to-door, accessible service for the municipality's 2,300 residents.

The federal government said last September it was providing $185,000 for the program, while the province gave $800,000 to help buy vehicles and subsidize fares for low-income individuals.

Riders pay a $5 base fee plus 75 cents a kilometre. They are picked up at their home in one of two vans and taken where they need to go, including destinations outside the municipality like Halifax and Antigonish. 

"There's a lot of seniors there. People were having difficulty getting to medical appointments," said Heather Kreffer, executive director of Smart-Go. "There was a big need for it, and the community knew." 

Kreffer said there are more than a dozen people who use the service regularly, and that ridership is growing every month.

Similar transportation services already exist in other rural municipalities, including East Hants and Victoria County.

Doug Wetmore of It's More Than Buses, a Halifax-based transit advocacy group, said expanding transit systems across the province starts with services like Smart-Go.

"You build up ridership from there and then expand the service," he said.

Expanding options

Wetmore hopes the province will eventually fill any transit gaps across the province and that rural areas can be connected to larger services, like Halifax Transit.

"Making sure that those options are available is incredibly important in order to make sure that ... all of our communities are accessible within one another," said Wetmore.

Naugle said not only has the service helped her stay connected to her community, but its employees have become like family.

"I've never been in a situation like this in my life, being so isolated," she said. "But my experience is there needs to be more [transit] like it and people like them."