CBC - June 2, 2015<\/p>\n
Marine Atlantic will officially open its new $20-million passenger terminal in North Sydney, N.S., on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
It's twice the size of the old terminal and includes a number of new features, including a separate lounge for commercial truckers, complete with showers and a quiet area. There are bright, spacious seating areas and Wi-Fi throughout the building.<\/p>\n
\"From a customer perspective, it's modern. It has the amenities that our customers expect,\" said Paul Griffin, Marine Atlantic's CEO. \"It's just a wonderful, wonderful day for Marine Atlantic.\"<\/p>\n
The new terminal is also much closer to downtown North Sydney. Instead of dashing across a parking lot and through lines of tractor-trailers, people waiting to board the ferries are now just steps away from local shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n
Local merchants had long complained that the thousands of people who travel on Marine Atlantic each year had little interaction with the community.<\/p>\n
\"People are looking to see what happens this summer, and hopefully we'll have a great weather summer,\" said Dan Bunbury\u00a0with the Business Improvement and Development Association in North Sydney.<\/p>\n
\"There's a lot of buzz about it for sure.\"<\/p>\n
The construction of the new terminal \u2014 and removal of the old one \u2014 \u00a0also frees up more space in Marine Atlantic's lot.<\/p>\n
Officials hope that puts an end to long lines of trucks waiting alongside nearby highways when the company has to turn away commercial traffic during lengthy weather delays.<\/p>\n
The company says it's working hard to improve the service, and says customer satisfaction rates have risen by 20 per cent, to 70 per cent, since 2010.<\/p>\n