Shuttle Bug bus service riding high
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2015 (3806 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When opportunity rang, Nikita Shaurette picked up the phone.
Shaurette, who owns and operates Shuttle Bug Tours and Charter Services, started the local bus service five years ago in the Riding Mountain National Park area.
While it was no secret it was difficult for patrons of a local establishment to find reliable transportation at the end of the night, it was an incident involving her close friends that really spurred Shaurette, then 21 years old, into the business.
“There were a lot of people drinking and driving,” she said. “One day, my girlfriend hit a telephone pole pretty bad and ripped up her face, almost went through the windshield and almost killed her brother, so it hit hard and pretty close to home.”
Knowing something needed to be done, Shaurette enlisted the help of her father to find a high-top bus and started an
on-call service for bar patrons. Working initially for donations, it soon became clear that there was a bigger opportunity in the area.
Today, Shuttle Bug is a four-vehicle fleet consisting of a
10-passenger van, 13-passenger van and two 21-passenger vans. An additional 22-passenger van is in the shop and will soon be road-ready. The company employs two full-time drivers and another 10 part time.
Based out of Onanole, the company serves a broad clientele. From golfers to birdwatchers, wedding-goers to businesspeople on corporate retreats, Shuttle Bug is the company transporting people in the area.
“Weddings are huge out here,” Shaurette said.
She has also tapped into the tourism industry in the area.
It’s not unusual for her to shuttle a group from Winnipeg to the park who are searching for the “Manitoba five” in wildlife. If they’re lucky, groups might catch a moose, bison and black bear sighting in Riding Mountain before flying north to Churchill, where they see can see the beluga whale and polar bear.
“Seeing them super happy is rewarding and introducing them to the area is really intriguing,” Shaurette said.
Depending on the tour, shuttles can be rented for anywhere between $115 to $145 per hour.
In the winter, the industry slows down. However, Shaurette said they are looking at purchasing a snow bear so they can take clientele out on the frozen lake and ice fish from the vehicle.
“We’re always forward thinking,” she said.
» ctweed@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @CharlesTweed