The Prince George Citizen

Filling the void

B.C. considerin­g all options to replace Greyhound services

- Derrick PENNER

“Nothing is off the table” when it comes to replacing vital intercity buses between remote communitie­s now that Greyhound is departing B.C., according to the province’s transporta­tion minister.

Claire Trevena said on Tuesday that she hopes other private bus operators in B.C. will step in to serve some of the routes. And she plans to meet her provincial counter- parts from Alberta, Saskatchew­an and Manitoba to share ideas for replacing the bus service.

On Monday, Greyhound announced the end of its money-losing business in Western Canada effective Oct. 31.

Trevena said she was caught by surprise since it was only in February that the company got permission to eliminate nine unprofitab­le routes in northern B.C. and Vancouver Island.

She said Ottawa should play a role in filling the gap, considerin­g that Greyhound’s decision affects all of Western Canada.

“We’re going to be talking to all providers,” Trevena said during a conference call with reporters. “We know there are private operators who are very nimble and quick,” and would be eager to take over some of the routes.

She pointed to Vancouver Island, where the company Tofino Bus stepped up in 2013 to replace Greyhound on a route to Campbell River and Courtenay, and again this year when Greyhound cancelled services from Victoria and Duncan.

Tofino Bus owner Dylan Green agreed that “there’s a lot of strong routes,” in the Greyhound network. “I think that another bus company will see an opportunit­y there,” said Green, who may expand his firm’s freight service to fill in as Greyhound is leaving.

For Greyhound, its expansive network had become a perennial money loser, racking up millions of dollars in losses, even when passenger losses were offset by its more lucrative courier freight business, which it is also ending Oct. 31.

In December, the company outlined its problems in its applicatio­n to the Passenger Transporta­tion Board to cancel northern routes. Ridership in B.C. had declined 46 per cent since 2010 and the company was incurring losses of $35,000 a day on its passenger service, it said.

It’s applicatio­n said that Greyhound incurred a $12.9-million deficit on its passenger service in B.C. in its fiscal year ending March of 2017, and even with offsetting revenue from its freight service, its overall loss was $4.6 million.

In a background document, the company said its executives had outlined concerns about its declining business in meetings with the ministry in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. One of the ideas it proposed was for government to set up a “connecting communitie­s fund.”

In an emailed statement on Tuesday, senior vice president Stuart Kendrick said Greyhound had asked the federal and provincial government­s to provide a “connectivi­ty fund” to rural and First Nations communitie­s so that they could let private bus companies bid to provide “safe, reliable service” for their citizens.

Trevena, however, characteri­zed the suggested that proposal as “effectivel­y a fund to subsidize Greyhound. ... We didn’t want to go down that route (because) it is a commercial operator.”

Trevena suggested that Greyhound’s focus on freight, which had buses stopping in com- munities late at night or early in the morning, might have been part of the company’s passenger problem.

By contrast, she said that the province’s B.C. Bus North service, being operated by B.C. Transit as a pilot project, has seen “good uptake” since it started earlier this year.

“It seems to be working because we serve people when they want to travel, in the daytime,” Trevena said.

Bus North operates twice-weekly on routes in Northern B.C. including between Prince George and Prince Rupert, the so-called Highway of Tears where at least 18 women have been murdered or gone missing after last being seen hitchhikin­g.

Trevena said she is consulting with all communitie­s affected by Greyhound’s departure, including First Nations.

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