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To The Editor:

Codiac Transit has decided to put on an airport shuttle service to and from the airport.

This has been met with surprise from city staff, editorial comments from the Times & Transcript regarding bus service in our city, and opposition from taxi drivers.

It seems that Codiac General Manager John Allain did mention the airport shuttle more as an aside in his contact with the city regarding other issues. And, in fact, in an article about Codiac Transit's plans for the future, the words airport shuttle were at the end.

For the manager of a large multi-million dollar, publicly funded organization to have not had face-to-face contact with the city council for five years seems odd.

Perhaps this is why the airport shuttle plans developed to the point they have without council being aware of it.

The shuttle, which will serve customers from the various hotels around the city, taking them to and from the airport, will not benefit the residents of Moncton whose tax dollars are funding it. This is first and foremost.

Secondly, those customers are mostly corporate travelers whose expense accounts cover travel to and from the airport. So, in fact, our tax dollars will be subsidizing large and small corporations. I know we want business in Moncton, but do we have to pay for this? It seems ludicrous when I, as well as everyone, hear constantly about the need for more frequent buses to service our citizens.

Travelers coming to Moncton have a taxi service to take them to the hotels and everywhere else. The fare to any hotel in the Moncton area is minimal and much less than in other large cities where distances to and from hotels, other than airport hotels, are much greater.

Being a taxi owner and operator who works at the airport for a few hours most days, customers often remark how close our airport is to the city core. This equates to minimal expense, which, I'd like to reiterate, is paid for by the company they work for or is tax deductible.

And something else we must ask ourselves: do we want a taxi service in Moncton?

Those cabbies at the airport make their living providing the service Codiac Transit wants to duplicate. There isn't enough business in the city to keep them busy in town.

Our sister city in Louisiana, Lafayette, has in the past had next to no taxis. Deputy Mayor Pierre Boudreau has visited Lafayette several times. He said it was very difficult to get around. Do we want to stifle our taxi industry here?

The citizens of Moncton will not benefit from the shuttle unless they decide to stay in a hotel instead of going home.

How about more frequent service on the Salisbury route? Or morning and evening service for commuters from Shediac and Memramcook? There are lots of ways to improve bus service in Moncton before putting on an airport shuttle.

Susan Seaman,

Chair

Moncton Taxi

Advisory Committee,

Moncton