The owner of a new passenger shuttle service from La Ronge to Prince Albert is taking bookings and hopes to begin operations next week.

Vi Werchola is the owner of L.A. Family Taxi in La Ronge and is behind L.A. Family Shuttle. She says for several months, people have been talking about the need for this type of service.

“We have been thinking about it through the winter months, and we don’t see anyone else offering the service and we feel there is a real need in the north for this kind of thing since the bus shut down,” she said. “We see more and more people hitchhiking, trying to find a quick ride down south.”

Werchola says the plan now is to run shuttle vans to Prince Albert on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday — although that could change, depending on customer needs.

The vans will leave La Ronge in the morning and return from Prince Albert later the same day. Bookings will be done in advance and they hope to make the first passenger shuttle trip into Prince Albert on June 20.

The vans will leave from the Kikinahk Friendship Centre around 8:15 a.m. and the Air Ronge Co-op Gas Bar around 9 a.m. and make a 10-minute stop in Weyakwin.

Once in Prince Albert, passengers can make connections to other cities.

For more details on the shuttle service, including the price for the trip, you can call L.A. Family Shuttle at 306-420-4848.

(PHOTO: Vi Werchola. Photo courtesy of Vi Werchola, Facebook.)