Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton and Green Party leader David Coon are calling attention to the sorry state of regional public transportation in New Brunswick in a video recently posted to social media showing the pair of Green MLAs taking the train from Moncton to Sackville.
“Unfortunately, in New Brunswick, the train is not very reliable or convenient,” says Mitton to the camera from her seat on VIA Rail’s The Ocean, which runs three times per week between Halifax and Montreal. “It’s also not connected to the regional bus system operated by Maritime Bus,” says Mitton.
The Greens have some specific ideas on how to address some of the shortcomings in public transportation in New Brunswick, but their main ask in this video call-out is to put someone in charge of it.
“No one is responsible for it,” says Mitton in an interview with CHMA this week. “The current Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is not responsible for public transportation,” she says, and while some cities have their own transit systems, “there’s nothing else.” That’s why the Greens are calling for the Liberal government to appoint a “minister responsible for public transportation.”
“We need to have coordinated effort to get people around the province in a way that’s better for our environment and our pocketbooks,” says Mitton.
“We would have a minister who would actually go to the table and talk to VIA Rail, and talk to CN, and figure out having the rail line improved between Campbellton and Sackville, for example,” says Mitton. “And have the trains actually traveling more often and on time.”
Mitton says the trip that she and Coon took from Moncton to Sackville took two hours and 15 minutes. “If it takes over two hours to get between Moncton and Sackville and costs a fair bit of money, you can see why people don’t choose that,” says Mitton.
In the Greens’ video, Coon says, “we could have commuter rail in New Brunswick, just like other parts of the country,” and suggests focussing on improving existing service between Campbellton and Sackville, and connecting Sackville, Moncton, and Saint John on existing tracks.
Mitton says that transportation challenges were brought up regularly in provincial health care consultations, and there’s potential for public transportation options to help people get to medical appointments, as well as commuting. There’s also potential for tourism. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could just jump on a bus to head to the beach or to a provincial or national park?” asks the MLA.
“Obviously in rural areas, you do need vehicles, but not everyone can afford them,” says Mitton. “What if there were some other options… to be able to get all around the province?”
“We’re not saying create a whole new department,” says Mitton. “We’re saying put someone in charge of this, because if no one’s in charge of it, then there’s no vision, and there’s no chance that we’re going to make things better.”
