The provincial government has decided to subsidize a bus service between Charlottetown and Summerside after rescinding funding last spring.

'We reworked the business model, made a further presentation to Minister Sheridan.'— Trius Transit owner Mike Cassidy

On Wednesday the finance minister announced the P.E.I. government will provide $9,500 a month to Trius Transit to keep the County Line Express running.

The shuttle runs back and forth between the two cities four times a day, serving 70 to 80 passengers. It's heavily used by University of Prince Edward Island and Holland College students.

In May, Finance Minister Wes Sheridan said the government could not afford to subsidize the County Line Express. Trius Transit owner Mike Cassidy had said the bus would stop running May 31.

Cassidy said he went back to government with a new funding proposal that took into account the new bus service he recently started in Summerside.

"It is like anything else. You are faced with either a dilemma, a problem, you try to find a solution. We reworked the business model, made a further presentation to Minister Sheridan," Cassidy said.

"We were very grateful and ecstatic that they accepted the concept of providing a subsidy to County Line."

The new subsidy is considerably less than the $14,000 a month the County Line Express received in the past, but Cassidy said he believes more riders will use the service now.