2006-12-01

Conway Daily Sun

North Conway merchant launching public shuttles

Public transportation business aims to serve tourists, workers

Dena Libner

CONWAY — Jonathan Bliss, owner of a North Conway cigar shop, is starting a whole new venture: public transportation.
Bliss' new company, White Mountain Transit Authority, will follow two different routes, one based in Conway, the other serving commuters from Berlin and Gorham.
The Valley Shuttle route is expected to be up and running for this coming ski season, running from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. Bliss said shuttles will run the length of North Conway's strip, beginning at Eastern Slope Inn and making stops at points of social and economic activity: Settlers' Green, North Conway Grand Hotel and Cranmore Ski Resort, among others.
“The run is really all done on private properties,” Bliss explained to Conway selectmen Tuesday. “Two buses will make the circuit at the same time. There will be a north route and a south route, and the buses will come by every 30 minutes, during the winter.”
In the summer, Bliss hopes to replace the enclosed shuttles with “classic red trolleys” that announce their starts and stops with the ring of a bell. The summer route will run seven days a week; this more frequent circuit, run in the busy tourist season, will be called The Village Trolley.
“We're hoping it will give tourists more freedom and alleviate a lot of the traffic congestion,” Bliss said.
The second route — the Berlin-Gorham Express — will serve workers who commute from Berlin and Gorham.
"The new Home Depot and Lowe's say they're going to need about 150 employees to man their stores in North Conway," Bliss said, referring to the planned 2007 opening of both home improvements giants. "White Mountain Transit Authority can bus employees in from the Berlin and Gorham area."
A ride on the village shuttles and trolleys will cost each passenger $2. A round-trip ticket on the Berlin-Gorham Express will cost around $12, but Bliss isn't sure that route will be profitable.
"We'd need 50 people on each run of the Berlin-Gorham Express just to break even," he told selectmen, adding that reaching that number seems unlikely. "That route will be non-profit; we'll be seeking out grants to subsidize it."
Bliss has partnered up with a Boston-based bus company owner, Michael Curreri, who also owns a home in Bartlett. The two first met when Curreri began visiting Bliss' Village Cigar Emporium.
"I thought it would be a perfect marriage," Bliss said. "He has the buses, and I know what the local needs are."
Right now, Bliss and Curreri are busy getting ski racks welded to the village shuttles, which are expected to make their first run after Christmas. Bliss has high expectations for White Mountain Transit Authority. He wants to gas the buses with biofuel, and encourage drivers to chat up their passengers.
"We want this to be a happy thing, we want the drivers to be chatting," Bliss said. "We're very excited about this."