By paNOW

Nipawin company planning new passenger transport routes

Sep 13, 2018 | 6:00 PM

Staff with a Nipawin company is hoping to help fill the gap left by the closure of STC by starting a daily transportation service from Nipawin to Prince Albert and Saskatoon.

There are plans for the Clean Cab & Courier to start offering the service October 1, and the owners hope there is enough of a need to make the operation work. Les Blair and his wife Kathy previously operated a cab service in Nipawin, but Blair said they’re getting a lot of questions about the availability of a route to Prince Albert and other communities and decided to give it a try.

The company has now received permission from the province to operate a transportation service and has applied for a business license to operate in Prince Albert.

 “We’re going to give it a shot. Hopefully, people will take advantage of it because it’s a service that’s needed,” Les said. “If there’s a demand, we’ll supply, that’s the key to this whole thing.”

Les said the company will run a 15-passenger van, with qualified and licensed drivers, each weekday from Nipawin to Prince Albert and Saskatoon. If there is enough interest, he said the company will consider adding a route to Tisdale or Melfort, but said details haven’t been worked out.

long-term care

La Ronge housing shortage discussed at SUMA convention

2h ago

Fond Memories

North Stars' 20-year-olds reflect on junior hockey experience: Part 1

4h ago

Missing pet

'She means the world to our family': Woman seeks help in finding missing pet parrot

6h ago

Lars Ketilson, the planning manager with the City of Prince Albert, told paNOW Clean Cab’s paperwork is still being reviewed but that their application for a business license appears to be in order and is likely to be approved in time for operations to begin next month. Ketilson said the city has received a handful of requests to run transportation services to Prince Albert from various points around Saskatchewan.

“There’s a number of transportation service providers, or better known as shuttle services, that have applied or are already operating within the City of Prince Albert,” Ketilson said. “It seems as if the private industry is taking root as a replacement of what STC used to provide, which is a good thing, but it’s slow going right now.”

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt