A new shuttle bus service in Port Moody this summer that will link Inlet Centre, Rocky Point Park and Moody Centre is a win win for local businesses, residents and visitors, says Celia Chiang, the president of Shop Local Port Moody.
Last week, Port Moody council approved spending $50,000 to contract an operator as well as install stops and signage for the service, which will run as a pilot project on 10 summer weekends from June to August. The TransLink board of directors has also given its assent to the free service.
Chiang, who owns Port Moody Flowers in Newport Village, said the shuttle, which will run the 8-km loop every 20 to 30 minutes on Fridays from 4 p.m. to midnight and from 2 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays, will be “great opportunity for businesses and very convenient for residents.”
She said Shop Local Port Moody members are eager to collaborate with the city to create awareness of the new shuttle.
“We would be happy to help,” she said. “We need to capitalize on all opportunities that are presented before us.”
Amelia Norrie, one of the organizers of Port Moody’s night market, which will be launching its second season in July, said her group is already working on expanding its weekly Friday night event in the parking lot of the PoMo Station Museum by five or six vendors.
“A shuttle service would only further help attendance to our market as we feel it will draw in new visitors who were perhaps reluctant to come down last summer because of the parking challenges,” Norrie said.
Those challenges can be especially frustrating on a warm summer’s evening when there is an event at Rocky Point Park, said Cody Allmin, one of the owners of Twin Sails Brewing Co. on Murray Street's Brewers Row.
“It’s mayhem when we have these events going on,” Allmin said. “There’s definitely not enough parking.”
Allmin said the shuttle might even encourage visitors to Brewers Row and the park to explore the other parts of the city they’ll be able to access on the shuttle, like the shops on Clarke Street or Newport Village as well as Suter Brook.
“Having the shuttle will definitely open visitors to those spaces,” he said.
And that’s good news for Port Moody’s business community, said Chiang, who noted, “Reaching out to new customers is critical."
