It’s almost time for the Belleville Senators to hit the ice and for Belleville Transit that means getting the Park and Ride service up and running to take people to the games.
At a meeting yesterday the Belleville Transit Advisory Committee directed staff to start talks with city recreation officials and those representing the Belleville Senators to work on ways to cover the costs of moving people to and from the games from the Quinte Mall parking lot.
It cost a total of $26,000 last year to run the service and fare and sponsorship revenues paid for just $16,000 of that so taxpayers picked up the rest of the tab.
Getting sponsorship money so far this year has been a “tough sell”.
Two routes were on offer last year and over 4,000 riders used the service but just over 100 of those used the route involving the Bayview Mall so that route will not be offered this season.
The Belleville Senators paid $3,000 toward the service, an amount committee chair councillor Bill Sandison said was too low.
Councillor Paul Carr said he believed extra parking could be found in the existing parking lot at the arena.
Park and Ride will begin early next month with “rookie challenge” games. The fare for the service will remain at $2.50 for a round trip.
