This comment was made during hearings into schedule changes (cuts) proposed by Acadian Lines. Hearings in Kentville (Aug.5) and Antigonish (Aug.6) were attended by 15 to 25 people, a far cry from the one or two in some past hearings. Attendance was very limited in Halifax. The Review Board and Transport 2000 Atlantic both made serious efforts to alert travellers of the proposed changes. Unfortunately little seems to have been done by Acadian to notify passengers, although instructed to do so by the Review Board. Two formal submissions and 14 briefs were submitted.

Although the changes were billed by Acadian as "improvements to service throughout the system", only two major changes seemed positive.

Acadian proposed a commuter service for workers in Halifax, leaving New Glasgow at 6am, Truro at 7am, arriving in downtown Halifax at 8:30, and the Almon Street terminal at 8:45. While strongly supporting the inbound schedule in his Halifax brief, John Pearce pointed out that a return trip, not leaving Almon Street until 18:30, would not likely attract many riders.

In another postive change, a proposed 12:20 arrival in Halifax from Kentville replaced the earliest available 15:10 arrival currently available. Several interveners wanted a 10:00 arrival in Halifax, but this was not possible since the vehicle originated in Halifax at 8:05 and turned in Kentville. This prompted Transport 2000 Board Member, Wayne Hines, in Kentville, to comment that "much of this schedule looks like it's designed to be convenient for the company to get buses to certain places, to operate runs that may not make economical sense".

Among the more negative impacts of the proposals were:
- Most (3 up from 2) of the weekday runs between Yarmouth and Halifax were now truncated at Digby, and the Sunday trip departed Yarmouth at 9am, making weekend travel unattractive.
- The downtown terminal in Kentville was to be closed and the stop moved to Coldbrook on the western outskirts. This move drew opposition from the Town of Kentville and many others and was re-examined by Acadian. The terminal has since moved to the former VIA station.
- The "short-haul" run from the Valley to Halifax originates in Kentville rather than in Middleton. Acadian proposed that Kings (County) Transit be used to reach as far west as Greenwood through connections in Coldbrook.
- There was major concern in Antigonish that the local same-day-return service to Halifax was terminated in New Glasgow with the earliest possible Halifax arrival from Antigonish to be 14:35 instead of 10:20. Some felt the 6:00 originating departure from New Glasgow was not attractive either.

In conclusion, Transport 2000 suggested that four major changes to timetables in 15 months is driving passengers and parcel freight away through uncertainty. We also noted that it was time that the provincial task force studying the bus industry in N.S. took some initiative before the whole network collapsed completely.

Chairman John Morash and Commissioner Allan Green reserved decision on the proposal.

A new local bus service was given a 90-day licence by the N.S. Utilities and Review Board for service between Windsor, Hantsport, Wolfville and the Kingstec Community College campus in Kentville. The service connected with Kings Transit for connections to Kingston/Greenwood and other points, but did not compete with the municipally-operated service. Co-owner Randy Mosher said the service would replace some of the local service dropped by Acadian Lines during the past few years. The service made several return trips daily until early December when it was discontinued because of a lack of ridership. However, the owners say they may consider offering the service again some time in the future.

Dorman-Roberts Ltd., successor to Terra Transport's trans-Newfoundland service is inaugurating a new 58-passenger motorcoach service from Marystown to St. John's and return each day. The bus will leave Marystown about 8am and arrive back about 9pm, allowing a full afternoon in St. John's. Connections will be made at Goobies with the trans-Newfoundland bus to/from Cornerbrook and the Marine Atlantic ferry at Port-aux-Basques. DRL will employ 6 to 8 new staff from the Burin Peninsula.

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