Mike Cassidy, the owner of Maritime Bus and Coach Atlantic, has stated that new COVID-19 restrictions in the province are having an impact on his business. He also added that the service remains essential to passengers.
Although the number of his passengers is half of what it was when the Atlantic bubble was open, Cassidy said that students and essential workers still rely on the service to send packages.
When the Atlantic bubble was open, 275 to 325 customers used the service on a daily basis, but now, only 140 passengers use the service daily. Cassidy said that the parcel business has increased despite the restrictions and decreasing number of passengers. Despite the new restrictions, the bus service will continue working because it’s essential for the province and the passengers.
Cassidy said:
“People do have to travel. We had university students leaving Fredericton using the bus to get to the Halifax airport to fly home for the end of the semester, and I’m glad the bus was available for those students. And I’m sure there’s a mom or a dad or a family member wanting to see their child, their student, home.”
He added that drivers are not concerned about new testing requirements:
“We have been getting tested. We have been doing the self-isolation, we have been tested. And the protocols that have been in place that we have been living with, we have not seen a drastic change in what we have been doing because we were doing it.”
