Miramichi's first transit operator Shane Savard discusses buses then and now
If you lived on the Miramichi during the 90s, you'll likely remember Miramichi City Transit, a great bus service run by enterpreneur Shane Savard.
Savard, with his two buses making the rounds on both sides of the river every hour on the hour, ran the very first independent transit service in Canada right here on the Miramichi. He also found out the hard way why it was the first.
It was quite a thing, but not that you'd ever know today, as it seems the city would like to pretend the service never even existed. And no wonder, considering how they had the chance to ensure the transit service's future almost a decade-and-a-half ago, but instead let a great idea slip away. Again.
I reached Shane Savard Friday and asked him about his transit service then and what advice he had about the new service.
Savard's service kept longer hours than the present system, he said.
"I had two buses that ran every hour from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., 15 hours a day, six days a week. When it first started I drove one bus 90 hours a week myself, plus all the other duties like cleaning, hotline to the bus, selling advertising, maintenance."
He always felt a transit service was needed on the river, and though some at the city may have agreed, they offered no help, he said.
"When I first approached the city to ask if it would be OK to start a transit they did give me approval, but stated there would be no help from them. The city would not even help me put signs up."
Savard said Miramichi politicians are acting like a transit system on the river is something new, something that bothers him.
"It's only been 11 years since I shut down Miramichi City Transit. It ran for 22 months and I felt it was well used. I find it a bit sad that the city can't talk about my transit openly and act like it didn't exist."
After almost two years of running the service, Savard approached the city looking for help to keep the buses running. He asked for $100,000, peanuts compared to the amounts being spent on the new system.
"They did a feasibility study, sent all my books off to a chartered accountant making sure everything was legit and decided that they would give me $100,000 but about a month before it was supposed to happen Mr. Vachon, city manager at that time, let me know they had to make some budget cuts. I was one of them."
And Miramichi City Transit, a service that united the city for 22 months, just faded away.
"People were very disappointed," he said.
"There were petitions around with thousands of names supporting the MCT."
But Savard decided he would have to move on with his life and give up his dream of running a transit.
"There was no way I could afford to run it. If the city would have supported me in the end when I approached them I think my transit would still be running. I was asking for only $100,000. That seems like pennies to what they're spending now," he said.
"Hiring a commissioner and now being run by the city, I can see this causing a heavy burden to the taxpayers of Miramichi. There's only so much money they can waste, but we all know the city throws money out like crazy."
Savard now lives in Toronto, but visits the Miramichi ever year, he said.
"I miss home and will come back when I retire that's for sure. I love the Miramichi and it will always be home for me."
Savard says he's pleased the city finally brought in a bus system again.
"I'm very glad to hear the people of Miramichi now have a transit system.
"But I still stand proud of the transit that I ran for those 22 months and put my heart and soul into. I had two great drivers that put in so much more than what they were paid. I felt very blessed to have them, but in the end I failed. I had done everything I could."
His advice for operators of the new transit system?
"Just don't overspend and make sure the transit stays running."
Savard, with his two buses making the rounds on both sides of the river every hour on the hour, ran the very first independent transit service in Canada right here on the Miramichi. He also found out the hard way why it was the first.
It was quite a thing, but not that you'd ever know today, as it seems the city would like to pretend the service never even existed. And no wonder, considering how they had the chance to ensure the transit service's future almost a decade-and-a-half ago, but instead let a great idea slip away. Again.
I reached Shane Savard Friday and asked him about his transit service then and what advice he had about the new service.
Savard's service kept longer hours than the present system, he said.
"I had two buses that ran every hour from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., 15 hours a day, six days a week. When it first started I drove one bus 90 hours a week myself, plus all the other duties like cleaning, hotline to the bus, selling advertising, maintenance."
He always felt a transit service was needed on the river, and though some at the city may have agreed, they offered no help, he said.
"When I first approached the city to ask if it would be OK to start a transit they did give me approval, but stated there would be no help from them. The city would not even help me put signs up."
Savard said Miramichi politicians are acting like a transit system on the river is something new, something that bothers him.
"It's only been 11 years since I shut down Miramichi City Transit. It ran for 22 months and I felt it was well used. I find it a bit sad that the city can't talk about my transit openly and act like it didn't exist."
After almost two years of running the service, Savard approached the city looking for help to keep the buses running. He asked for $100,000, peanuts compared to the amounts being spent on the new system.
"They did a feasibility study, sent all my books off to a chartered accountant making sure everything was legit and decided that they would give me $100,000 but about a month before it was supposed to happen Mr. Vachon, city manager at that time, let me know they had to make some budget cuts. I was one of them."
And Miramichi City Transit, a service that united the city for 22 months, just faded away.
"People were very disappointed," he said.
"There were petitions around with thousands of names supporting the MCT."
But Savard decided he would have to move on with his life and give up his dream of running a transit.
"There was no way I could afford to run it. If the city would have supported me in the end when I approached them I think my transit would still be running. I was asking for only $100,000. That seems like pennies to what they're spending now," he said.
"Hiring a commissioner and now being run by the city, I can see this causing a heavy burden to the taxpayers of Miramichi. There's only so much money they can waste, but we all know the city throws money out like crazy."
Savard now lives in Toronto, but visits the Miramichi ever year, he said.
"I miss home and will come back when I retire that's for sure. I love the Miramichi and it will always be home for me."
Savard says he's pleased the city finally brought in a bus system again.
"I'm very glad to hear the people of Miramichi now have a transit system.
"But I still stand proud of the transit that I ran for those 22 months and put my heart and soul into. I had two great drivers that put in so much more than what they were paid. I felt very blessed to have them, but in the end I failed. I had done everything I could."
His advice for operators of the new transit system?
"Just don't overspend and make sure the transit stays running."
posted by Street Wise Guy | 3:30 AM
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