Who says you can’t get There from Here?

This comment – that you “can’t get there from here” – is a bit of an on-going joke in my family. Essentially it refers to the numerous times on family vacations we’ve become lost, asked for directions, and received that response in one form or another (yes, some people actually have said that). What does this have to do with Saint John? Well I’ve been in communication with a few people who are thinking of moving to the east coast and they have this common characteristic where they think that transportation in our region is really limited – a “you can’t get there from here” misconception that I’d like to clear up.

Take for example my brief excursion to Nova Scotia last week for a change of scenery and some camping. We were bringing our eleven year old somewhat-arthritic dog with us, who refuses to sit or lie down in the car, so the scenic four hour drive around the Bay of Fundy was not an option. But not to worry, a quick jump over the Harbour Bridge to west Saint John and we hopped the Princess of Acadia ferry for a very comfy three hour ride across the Bay to Digby, NS. Easy on the dog, easy on the car (almost as old and even more rickety than the dog), easy on our backs (wander around on deck in the sun, eat a meal in the cafeteria, stretch out and sleep in the lounge, whatever)… a little pricey on the wallet though since driving our 4 cylinder would have been a bit cheaper. But the point is that we had choice in how we wanted to travel, and oh by the way you can get there from here quite easily!

Another example – my best friend from childhood visited from Saskatoon over the long weekend, and flew into the Moncton airport. She thought that WestJet doesn’t fly into Saint John… wrong. In fact, SunWing provides many direct flights to southern vacation destinations from our Airport, along with AirCanada, Westjet and a handful of charter services.

And for you commuters out there who wonder about public transit – check out the Comex (short for Community Express) service for the bedroom communities of Grand Bay-Westfield, Rothesay, Quispamsis and Hampton. Only one year old and these services (express commuter services to the city – leave your car at home, save on gas and no parking worries) are so popular that Saint John Transit is adding additional bus runs to accommodate the uptake. I imagine that as soon as we get our first snow fall their ridership will see another increase – why shovel if you don’t have to?

Or if the “forty foot limo” isn’t your style, the Saint John Parking Commission provides the Share your Ride service – an online matching service for carpoolers. Just hop on the website, fill out the brief form and you’ll be matched with others from your area who need to carpool at the same time and to the same neighbourhood as you.

And if your method of travel is a little greener than most (i.e. you bike, walk, scoot, etc.) I think you’ll find that Saint John is pretty friendly. I walk myself, so I can attest to how peaceful your walk to work can be in this community – although if you’re friendly and open to meeting new people plan extra time to get to work, everybody wants to chat! I hear the biking situation can depend on your neighbourhood – some are more bike friendly than others but almost all have some type of trail system you can take advantage of. And scooters and Smartcars are very popular here – they certainly make parking in the historical Uptown a lot easier!