South Shore Nova Scotia community piloting free beach bus in July

CBC

Updated June 24, 2018 at 6:30 a.m.

South Shore Nova Scotia community piloting free beach bus in July

Michael Graves wants beach days to be within every family's budget, but some of Nova Scotia's most popular ocean beaches can be out of reach for families that don't have a car or can't afford gas.

That's why Graves, who is a town councillor in Bridgewater and the co-ordinator for the United Way of Lunenburg County, came up with the idea for a free beach bus to Rissers Beach.

No public transit to beach

The idea was sparked after Graves heard about the popularity of a now discontinued free bus service that Cape Breton Regional Municipality offered in July and August 2016. Riders were able to get to beaches on those routes at no cost, including Dominion Beach and Indian Beach.

"I thought if that's possible there, what's possible here?" Graves said.

Rissers is a kilometre-long, white sand beach that's part of a popular provincial park in the rural community of Petite Rivière, along the province's Lighthouse Route. It's not accessible by bus and the closest town is a 20-minute drive away.

"So, if you're a lower income individual or a family, if you have issues related to transportation, getting to Rissers Beach would be quite difficult," Graves said.

"This was a way to provide some new opportunities for kids and youth and families."

A trial run that could lead to more

The free bus to Rissers Beach is being piloted on Saturday, July 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Events happening at Rissers that day include a sandcastle competition, a cardboard boat race and the South Shore Kite Festival.

A 36-seat beach bus will pick up and drop off passengers at designated stops in Pentz, Bridgewater and New Germany.

Whether the free beach bus to Rissers will be offered again this summer or next year will depend on demand, resources and cost.

Graves said the original plan was to offer two beach runs at a cost of $900, but then Stock Transportation lost its charter licence.

Now, the budgeted cost to charter one bus to Rissers Beach is $1,092.50.

The United Way will cover $900 of that cost and the remainder will be shared by the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, who are also donating staff time.

Halifax beach access

In Halifax, a bus pass for income assistance clients rolled out this weekend.

While a number of lake beaches are accessible by Halifax Transit, HRM's most popular ocean beaches are not.

There have been several unsuccessful pushes for public transit to Rainbow Haven Beach, a provincial park that is about a half-hour drive from Halifax.

Municipal spokesperson Nick Ritcey told CBC News in an email that demand for transit service is "inconsistent" and "there are no plans at this point to add new beach routes."

According to recent data, one in five children in the province lives in a family classified as low income.

Brandon Grant, executive director of employment support and income assistance for the province, said that while he doesn't think he's heard any specific concerns about beach access from clients, transportation is a major barrier.

"Clients often talked about the social isolation they feel because they're not able to access supports like transportation to get to where they need to go," he said.

Grant said there are a number of programs rolling out over the next few months that will help improve quality of life and social inclusion for Nova Scotians, including changes to its income assistance program.