Charlottetown Transit System

“We’re going to go out to the telephone company and we’re going to say, ‘All right, there is the electric company and the telephone company, we think the telephone company can get more employees on the trolley for Tuesday next week than the electric company could and we are going to have a competition.’” He continues, “We’re going to start to get this competition, to get people to take the trolley and to say if you don’t want to take the trolley five days a week, just do a little.” He adds, “We could have buttons made up, TTT buttons — Take the Trolleys Tuesday — just like casual days.”

Providing for Private and Public
Cassidy attributes the success of running Charlottetown Transit System from the standpoint of a private operator, “The entrepreneurial nature that we are bringing.” He pauses a moment, and relates a story that illustrates this. “I can remember, oh my goodness, that first day we were going to start our route.” He continues, “On September 30, oh my, it might have been six o’clock in the evening, and I looked across. We were coming in this mall area where the route was. My entrepreneurship class at the university was selling hot dogs as a fundraiser and I told the bus driver to stop.

“I had two ladies and two children on board and I asked, ‘Would you like a hot dog?’ And they looked at me, they said, ‘We would love to have a hot dog.’ I asked, ‘What would you like on it?’

“I had the bus driver stop and I got six hot dogs — four for my customers, one for my driver and one for myself.” He asks, “Do you know what? Those ladies never forgot that.” He reiterates, “It’s that down-home style of marketing and entrepreneurism to make sure you drive your ridership.”

Of transit, Cassidy stresses, “The transit system is heavy, heavy in maintenance. Maintenance has to be a top priority.” He says, “Customer service for the drivers is very, very important, but reliable equipment that can go out of our terminal each and every morning at 6:30 is paramount and the only way you can have that is with a good maintenance program.” He adds, “Thank goodness I could rely on my maintenance program of the motorcoaches. I would hate to ever start this business just as transit, brand new.”

He quickly adds, “And understanding transportation, understanding logistics, understanding the customer is No. 1 and how important customer service is, that’s what you can bring from the motorcoach business.” He says, “Motorcoach is reliable, modern equipment with good customer service.”

He maintains that transportation is like any other business venture. “You have to be passionate, you have to believe in your dream and even though there are naysayers no matter what you do, you have to stay positive and you have to make sure your staff is positive.”

“It’s one customer at a time and you have to get so excited if you get one new customer because guess what? We’re going to get a new customer again tomorrow and we’re going to build the business.”

More Related Information:
Archived Article: Manager’s Forum — Community Involvement
Archived Article: Marketing Transit