How Forest Holbrook’s research is reframing small-town travel
As an independent student newspaper, The Argosy is lucky enough to operate with a staff of students who are creating positive change through their work every day. Outside of covering the news, Forest Holbrook, a fourth-year double major in environmental studies and geography, is providing essential research to the Tantramar region through his honours thesis project. His study centres around ways to promote accessibility, affordability, and safety in transportation throughout this region. In order to do this, Holbrook has created an online survey for residents of the area that gauges their interest in public transportation and gives an outlet to express their travel concerns. Holbrook says his survey project focuses on “local people living in Tantramar and asking them questions about how they commute, and if transportation is a barrier for them to get where they need to go. As well, what sorts of changes they would like to see to transportation in the region.”
As an amalgamated community, Tantramar comprises several small villages: namely, Aulac, Dorchester, Fort Folly, Midgic, Pointe de Bute, Sackville, Westcock, and Woodpoint. As the municipality is spread out between these townships, it can be difficult for residents on the outskirts to access essential services, such as medical assistance or grocery stores, without a personal vehicle. Given the nearest major service centre, Moncton, N.B., is nearly 50 km away from Sackville. Holbrook hopes to see change by gauging interest for several transportation solutions within the region.
In his survey, Holbrook asks residents to consider questions, such as “What types of public transit services would best fit your needs?”; “What do you think are the biggest barriers to implementing public transit options in the Tantramar region?”; and “Do you ever feel isolated due to lack of public transportation?”
Holbrook also provides the opportunity for participants to share their own personal experiences through submission boxes and multiple choice responses, in order to gauge the best way to involve the community in public transit and safety decisions. Inspired by his semester abroad studying at Stirling University in Scotland, where the ‘Uni-Link’ shuttle service operates several times a day, Holbrook envisioned the benefits of implementing a similar system here at Mt.A. Ideally, a bus would shuttle students and residents to essential service areas, increasing the accessibility of public amenities. “I was just there for one semester, but there was so much public transport everywhere, even in these super rural regions of Scotland. And the fares were fairly inexpensive.” He continued, “in a lot of places, it was more common to take the bus or the train than to drive.” Holbrook said a similar shuttle could alleviate common problems faced by residents and students without personal vehicles in Tantramar.
“I think if we had a bus going to Moncton a few times a day, that would solve a lot of things,” said Holbrook. He then discussed the logistics of operating this shuttle. “I feel it was kind of two ways to take this: if the University had one, that could help potentially with the implementation of parking passes. I worry [parking passes] are going to cause students to park in the outskirts of town, and then have to walk a long distance to get to campus to avoid paying this fee.”
The other option he envisioned was a bus being operated by Tantramar. “Maybe Tantramar themselves will take it on to make paid parking in central Sackville, so having a bus that, even if it didn’t go all the way to Moncton, just kind of drove back and forth through Sackville a few times a day would be really good.”
As a double major, Holbrook’s honours project has allowed him to combine two of his interests for the well-being of the community. “My honours technically is environmental studies, but since I’m doing a dual major, it’s kind of interrelated, and I feel like this project itself is a bit more geography-focused. But, of course, if there are less cars on the road, then that’s also a great environmental impact.” Holbrook’s survey will be available until early December, and you can share your thoughts with him about travel through Tantramar at the QR code provided below [. If you have any questions or thoughts regarding the survey, reach out via email to [email protected].
