I would agree with this but I think you're making an argument about the density of out of province plates rather than the number of visitors. Toronto has millions of cars with Ontario plates and the 401 is packed with local traffic. But it might still have more out of province traffic than much less busy parts of the TCH.
Imagine that highway A gets 200 cars an hour and 100 of those are out of province. Highway B gets 2,000 cars an hour and 200 are out of province. B is the more popular route for out of province cars but on A they are more noticeable because the density is higher (if you look at a random car you have a 50% chance of getting out of province on A but only 10% on B; if you count all the cars though you'll get more and maybe a greater variety on B).
A lot of it will come down to how much time people spend in different places. Even if they must all pass through some point that may not be the best spot to find them at any given time. And it's actually not quite the case with NS that everybody comes through on the TCH via NB. You can get to NS by ferry from Maine, NB (Saint John-Digby ferry), PEI, and NF, and there are small rural roads that tourists sometimes like to take. The Yarmouth-Portland ferry has struggled in recent years but a few years ago it was the route of choice for a significant number of American visitors.
No real disagreement from me. I have family in both NS and NB. Not in tourist hotbeds but in areas that do get some tourists. (Both areas are outside the main cities.)
Anyway, you never see American plates in the NB region where my family is concentrated. It's mostly Quebec plates you see in the towns there, with a smattering of Ontario plates.
In the area where most of my NS family is from, you see American plates several times a day in the towns themselves during the summer.
I've seen Saint Pierre & Miquelon plates a couple of times in Moncton within the last year. They're bright orange with the prefix SPM on them and the EU symbol (ring of stars)
I’ve seen SPM plates also...... occasionally passing through Antigonish on the TCH.
There will be a vehicle ferry beginning next year between St. Pierre and Fortune NL so they might become more common. (France to Canada in an hour!.....scroll down here for English)
Looks like some SPM plated vehicles sitting on the dock in Fortune in this Street-View link. And just guessing.....but they must be barged across now on an irregular basis.
I agree with you for Moncton vs. Halifax for cross-Canada plates. Moncton has more. But I find Halifax and NS in general have more American plates. Even though NB is geographically linked by land to the US and NS is not.
I think NS and PEI have a lot more recognition with Americans than NB does, hence NB's reputation as a "drive through province".
I sincerely think this is changing, and some parts of NB already see a fair bit of US tourism traffic (especially southwestern NB including Saint Andrews and Saint John).
I have high hopes that this paradigm will further change with the completion (in two years time) of the Fundy Trail, a coastal route from Saint John to Moncton. The trail passes through the "ironbound coast" of the Bay of Fundy with towering 1000 foot headlands with spectacular view of the bay and of the NS coast in the distance. Between this, Fundy Park, Cape Enrage the Hopewell Rocks and the scenic drive up the Petitcodiac River valley to Moncton, this will provide a great tourism experience rivalling the Cabot Trail with the benefit of connecting two cities with numerous attractions of their own.
Properly marketed, the Fundy Trail will entice lots of American visitors to stay awhile in the province.
Here are a few photos I took this year from the completed portion of the Fundy Trail extending eastwards from the fishing village of Saint Martins. These are cellphone pictures, hence do not have the benefit of zoom or telephoto to help with generating the scenic panoramas that truly exist here.
Sea caves of Saint Martins:
Fundy Trail Interpretive Centre at Big Salmon River
Pedestrian suspension bridge over the Big Salmon River
Views from some of the scenic overlooks on the headlands portions of the trail (you can see NS across the bay in some of the photos)
Looks like some SPM plated vehicles sitting on the dock in Fortune in this Street-View link. And just guessing.....but they must be barged across now on an irregular basis.
Indeed they are. I was in Fortune a few years ago and SPM plates were very common in and around the ferry loading zone. You can see them infrequently around the Burin Peninsula, particularly in Burin and Grand Bank; less-so in Marystown.
The distance between the two cities is about 150 km, and including the urban part of Moncton that this driver passes through, this trip probably would have taken about 100 minutes to complete. As such, there is significant temporal compression going on. Still interesting though.
Since we were talking about licence plates rarely seen in out respective areas, I thought I could share what I spotted today in Ottawa... A Toronto cab. First time I see one outside the GTA, I didn't know they could go this far. Probably an arrangement between the client and the taxi company. I wonder how much the ride ended up costing him.
I saw a Mexican license plate the other day. First time seeing that
Also due to the low dollar and slumping oil prices, Washington state license plates have replaced Alberta as the most prominent out of province plate in Vancouver.
Since we were talking about licence plates rarely seen in out respective areas, I thought I could share what I spotted today in Ottawa... A Toronto cab. First time I see one outside the GTA, I didn't know they could go this far. Probably an arrangement between the client and the taxi company. I wonder how much the ride ended up costing him.
Taxis can go wherever they want within the province or country. I see it a lot on highways in Northern Ontario travelling between towns and cities. But of course they can't pick up customers and charge fares in other municipalities that have taxi by-laws.
From what I've heard, for example, a Timmins taxi can take someone to Toronto and also back if it is the same customer(s) and a round trip within a reasonable amount of time.
I was at a party that was in an unorganized township (about 50 km from Timmins) and people were able to call a Timmins taxi to take them back home to Timmins. The fares are not regulated in that case as the ride originated somewhere with no taxi by-laws so the cab company has a flat rate that has to be agreed to by the customer. I think in that case it was $60.00 for a van that fit 5 or 6 people.
As for that Toronto taxicab in Ottawa, which ugly combination of colours did it have? LOL
The highways in Canada are actually pretty good. Because Canadian businesses depend on getting their goods from place to place quickly and safely, the provincial main highways for the most part are well maintained. On the smaller rural two-lane highways is where you may see more bumps and dips where they have not been repaved in 5-6 years.
The highways in Canada are actually pretty good. Because Canadian businesses depend on getting their goods from place to place quickly and safely, the provincial main highways for the most part are well maintained. On the smaller rural two-lane highways is where you may see more bumps and dips where they have not been repaved in 5-6 years.
In Ontario, it's the connecting links that are often really bad. It's the portion of a highway that is maintained by the municipality. Why the province can't just pay for it I don't know....
The highways in Canada are actually pretty good. Because Canadian businesses depend on getting their goods from place to place quickly and safely, the provincial main highways for the most part are well maintained. On the smaller rural two-lane highways is where you may see more bumps and dips where they have not been repaved in 5-6 years.
I saw a Mexican license plate the other day. First time seeing that
Also due to the low dollar and slumping oil prices, Washington state license plates have replaced Alberta as the most prominent out of province plate in Vancouver.
I live in AB, but I expected that you guys would see more Washington plates than Alberta all the time
Prev
Linear Mode
