Good Night Shuttle... Runs Every Friday & Saturday Night Until Dec. 2nd...

The City of Fredericton, Downtown Fredericton, Inc., the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University are joining forces to fund a second pilot for the after hours, weekend shuttle service from the downtown bar district to the College Hill / Forest Hill areas of Fredericton.

The ten-week pilot for the Good Night Shuttle, as the service is called, is set to begin on September 29th, and will run on Friday and Saturday nights until December 2nd. Fredericton Transit will provide the service. This pilot differs from last fall’s four-week trial in that there is a $2 charge to use the service. Monthly adult and student passes, rider cards and the STU U-Pass will be accepted.

“Hundreds of people leave the bars in downtown Fredericton at closing time on weekends, all heading for home,” said Mayor Brad Woodside. “This creates a bottleneck in the downtown core, resulting in serious public safety problems. Finding ways to move people quickly out of the downtown core is essential to relieving this problem.”

There will be two routes as part of this year’s pilot. Pick up will be every 15 minutes beginning at 1:30 am and running until 3 am from King Street near the Tannery. The routes will be staggered, meaning the first shuttle will leave, and then the second one will load for departure. The Good Night Shuttle will stop at bus stops as necessary and will not pick up passengers along either route. Security officers will be on board to assist with loading and unloading.

Route one will take shuttle users along Brunswick Street, Waterloo Row, Dunn’s Crossing, Biggs Street, Forest Hill Road, Beaverbrook Street, and York Street, back to King Street. The second route will loop up to the university campuses following York Street, Priestman Street, Regent Street, Montgomery Street, Windsor Street, Beaverbrook Street, and University Avenue, returning to King Street.

The decision to implement the ten-week pilot came from a Council-in-Committee session held on September 19th. The cost of the service is estimated to be $12,000, with offsetting revenue. The City of Fredericton will contribute $4,000 from budgeted funds. The shuttle service came as a recommendation of the Community Working Group to Prevent and Reduce Alcohol Related Problems in the Downtown Fredericton created by the City Administrator’s Office in September 2005.

Working group representatives included the City of Fredericton, business associations, bar owners, taxi committee representatives, universities, addiction and outreach services, CFB Gagetown, the compliance and regulatory services branch of the provincial department of Public Safety, and members of the public.

The 2005 four-week pilot, operated by Downtown Fredericton, Inc., generated a positive effect on the downtown after the bars closed. Those involved supported a continuation of some sort of after hours shuttle service.

This second pilot will be evaluated for its success based on rider numbers, and improvements to public safety and quality of life in the downtown and College Hill area. A report on the service will come back to Council early in 2007.

Source: http://www.fredericton.ca