Residents of the seaside tourist town of Bouctouche hope to see a new commuter bus that will connect them with Moncton, the economic hub of southeastern New Brunswick.

The Department of Transportation estimates that roughly 6,600 vehicles travel along Highway 11 near Bouctouche daily.

Denny Richard, the sustainability director for the town of Bouctouche, said a recent survey of the town's population saw more than 230 residents say they would be interested in using a park-and-ride system.

"I think it's a good idea," Richard said.

"It could really fly, with integrating other communities that's a given. But the forcefulness of the response was a bit surprising."

Boutouche is roughly 30 kilometres northeast from Moncton along Highway 11. The town consulted Moncton's Codiac Transit on the study. As well, it has examined similar projects in Quispamsis and Hampton.

Tina LeBlanc, a second-year business student at the University of Moncton, has to travel the route five days a week, eight months of the year.

LeBlanc said she and her friends would use the bus to save on gas.

"It would definitely cut on our budget and gas is certainly the big problem by driving every day to university," LeBlanc said.

Pauline Bourque, another Bouctouche resident, said she thinks a public bus connecting the town with Moncton is a good idea.

"It would save on gas emissions and all of that," Bourque said.

"If you have only one service a day, like early in the morning, you would probably be catering to the workers. But if you had two or three services in the day, then you might be catering to shoppers. It really depends how they do it."

Tourist draw

Bouctouche is well known in New Brunswick as being one of the province's tourism hot spots.

Tourists from across North America flock each year to La Pays de la Sagouine, the Acadian theme park created based on the book written by internationally-renowned author Antonine Maillet.

Outdoor enthusiasts also trek to Bouctouche to visit the local dunes at the Irving Eco-Park and walk along the town's expansive trail network.

Others are drawn to the town to visit sites marking Bouctouche icon and New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving.

Richard said it could work in the opposite direction drawing more tourists to the area.

"We figured that we do have a lot of really key attractions with the Pays de la Sagouine, la Dune de Bouctouche, we figure we could attract tourists from the Moncton area without the use of their cars," Richard said.

Richard said the town is looking for more money from both the federal and provincial governments to do a secondary feasibility study.

He said the town could not afford a commuter service without government funding.