Published in The BANAR November 1973
Residents of Blackburn Hamlet are now accustomed to seeing little red and white mini-buses zipping about the streets, and, judging from the steadily increasing passenger loads, are riding them in growing numbers. Average daily passenger load for the North Gloucester area (Blackburn Hamlet is not recorded separately) is now 475 to 500.
Several changes have been made in the service since it began on August 7th, all in response to requests from customers. The first is an extension of the time the service operates in the evening. Passengers can now depart the Shoppers City Terminal en route to the Hamlet as late as 12:30 a.m. (00:30 hrs). The second is a new service from the Shoppers City Terminal to NRC, departing every 20 minutes. Mini-buses for zones 1 and 2 will also detour into NRC if requested.
All reasonable requests for service are approved. An example is a trip by a school class from one of our zones to Earl Armstrong Arena (in zone 2) and return.
The map below shows the division of the Hamlet into zones 4 and 5. Passengers travelling from one zone to another will transfer at Shoppers City to the bus which is operating in the other zone. Passengers who wish to ride from one address to another within the same zone will be carried to their destination on the same bus.
To call a bus to your door, simply phone half an hour before your departure time. The bus will take you to Shoppers City for shopping or for a free transfer to the No. 24 trunk bus to downtown. Passengers returning from downtown on the trunk bus will find a mini-bus waiting to whisk them to the Hamlet for an extra fare of 25¢ during peak hours and loe at other times.
There are, no doubt, still many “bugs” in the system which annoy and confuse the passengers. If any reader has had problems of any kind – poor connections at Shoppers City, bus late, mini-bus or trunk bus overcrowded, etc. – he or she is invited to report them to the Gloucester Transportation Committee members representing Blackburn Hamlet.
