Comex users in the Kennebecasis Valley will notice some changes to their usual bus service on Monday.
The 53 Quispamsis Comex has been scrapped and replaced with extra stops on the 52 KV Comex, which serves both Rothesay and Quispamsis.
The change, announced in mid-June, comes amid declining ridership numbers on the weekday transit run, partly due to COVID-19.
There will be two morning runs, arriving in Saint John at 7:40 a.m. and 8:50 a.m., and two afternoon runs leaving at 4:05 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. The updated schedule can be found here.
As part of the changes, all three stops along Vincent Road in Quispamsis will be replaced by one stop at the qplex.
In addition, those who use the Parkside Road stop will be picked up first in the morning and dropped off last at night, rather than being picked up last and dropped off first.
Last month, Quispamsis Coun. Kirk Miller said they wanted to find a way to keep Comex running in Quispamsis despite declining ridership numbers.
“Unlike Hampton and some other areas that actually cancelled their whole Comex, we looked at an alternative to increase the runs slightly but also not give up some of our stops,” Miller said during the June 15 council meeting.
The councillor noted that the Quispamsis Comex run sometimes only had two to four people on it at a time.
Miller said he considers the adjustments to be “temporary” and added that they are open to future changes based on data and feedback.
“What none of us know right now is what’s it going to look like when the pandemic is over,” he said.
“It will come back to council in the fall, as well, once we start getting data that if we want to change things or work with Rothesay or go back to having our own route.”
ATTENTION: Changes are coming to the KV Comex bus service. Effective Monday, July 5, bus routes 52 and 53 will merge into one route with two trips in the morning and afternoon.
Please see below the new schedule and route for your information.https://t.co/vfwq2CqvRk pic.twitter.com/fl6wajYDVo
— Rothesay (@Rothesay_NB) July 4, 2021
