Free Comex Service In November And December

Comex riders between the Kennebecasis Valley and uptown Saint John are getting an early holiday gift: free service.

The weekday transit service, which typically cost $4 a trip, will be free to all passengers from Nov. 1 until the end of the year, officials announced last week.

Kirk Miller, a councillor in Quispamsis, said the goal of the initiative is to boost ridership numbers, both new users and returning riders.

Miller said the service has been hit hard in recent years, particularly over the last year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want to get people back on the Comex using it,” Miller said in a phone interview. “There’s obviously some great advantages for greenhouse gases, etc., plus it’s an easy way to get to work.”

The service, which is operated by Saint John Transit, underwent some changes this past summer in light of declining ridership numbers.

In July, the 53 Quispamsis Comex was scrapped and replaced with extra stops on the 52 KV Comex, which serves both Rothesay and Quispamsis.

The changes saw the number of morning runs reduced to two from three and the number of afternoon runs cut to two from four. The bus now arrives in Saint John at 7:40 a.m. and 8:50 a.m., and leaves the city at 4:05 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.

“Yes, we’ve changed some of the routing, but it’s still here and available to Quispam and Rothesay residents, and what a better way to get people to try it than to make it free,” said Miller, who sits on the Comex committee.

Miller said the free transit initiative was a collaboration between the towns of Quispamsis and Rothesay, along with the city of Saint John.

He said officials will take a look at the numbers once the two months are up to see what sort of impacts there were on ridership.

“Obviously when we’re giving it for free, we’re hoping to see a large jump in ridership, but again, we’ll wait to see the data,” said Miller.

Miller said the initiative will have a financial impact on the town but noted they always have money budgeted for Comex promotions.

“We know it’s still costing as a community, but we also think it’s for the greater good of the community if we can help maintain Comex and actually increase Comex ridership,” he said.

The Comex schedule can be found by clicking here.