Residents in St. Stephen will soon have a new way to get around the community.

Future St. Stephen is partnering with ridesharing company Kari for a pilot project.

President Jeremy Barham said they have been looking at ways to address transportation issues for some time.

Barham said if you do not have your own vehicle, it can be very challenging to get around town.

“We’ve had taxi companies come and go, but haven’t had anything consistent for a long time now. And there’s obviously no public transport either,” said Barham.

“So people are very much reliant on their own two legs or on friends to get them where they need to go.”

Ridesharing is an on-demand service that uses an app to match passengers needing a ride with a vehicle owner. These services have become a popular transportation option for many years in larger communities.

However, ridesharing is less common in smaller communities, where there are fewer people to take advantage of it.

Barham said it made sense to work with the Charlottetown-based company since their focus is on smaller areas like St. Stephen.

“Most rideshare companies just don’t bother with rural areas. They just concentrate on the cities because of the volume and margins are just very small for rural transport,” he said.

“But these guys have made it work on the island, so that really piqued our interest.”

The six-month pilot is scheduled to begin in the Municipal District of St. Stephen on May 1.

Barham said they also hope to expand the service to other parts of Charlotte County.

“We’ll use this six months to determine how many people there are who would like to use the service and how often they need it.”