Greyhound replacements find Western Canada is a tough road to prosperity
Six months after Greyhound Canada shut down most of its service in Western Canada and Northern Ontario, the companies that stepped in to take its place say they still face a rough road full of unexpected turns.
In B.C., they admit that making connections has become especially troublesome for passengers.
And the firms concede the level of service they’re providing doesn’t come close to matching what Greyhound had offered before it decided to abandon what it says was a money-losing business.
Bus operators report strong competition on profitable routes with good ridership, while remote routes with lower numbers usually aren’t served at all or get less-frequent or less reliable service, often on smaller vehicles or ones that don’t accommodate disabled passengers.
“If you’re travelling the major markets, you definitely have options and there are good carriers that are reputable,” said John Stepovy, director of business development for Calgary-based Pacific Western Transportation, which operates Red Arrow and Ebus services in Alberta and B.C.
“Once you start going into smaller markets or travelling interprovincially, the marketplace is a lot more scattered and the travelling public is forced to create their own journeys. Previously, you just needed one ticket through Greyhound.”
About a year ago, Pacific Western was hired by the province of B.C. to operate its B.C. Bus North service after Greyhound cancelled routes to communities including Prince Rupert and Dawson Creek.
Since the larger Greyhound shutdown last Oct. 31, Pacific Western has added more than a dozen buses as it rolled out intercity services in B.C. through its own brands for the first time and expanded service in Alberta as well, including taking on Edmonton-Camrose and Medicine Hat-Lethbridge routes aided by Alberta government grants.
The loss of Greyhound means it can be difficult or impossible for passengers to find connecting bus routes, said Joe Jansen, executive vice-president of Wilson’s Transportation of Victoria, which moves passengers via bus and ferry between Downtown Victoria and Vancouver.
It had an interline agreement with Greyhound that allowed it to sell tickets in Victoria to almost anywhere in Canada but that ended with Greyhound’s withdrawal.
“Greyhound was the one carrier in Western Canada that tied everything from Winnipeg to Victoria together. We don’t have that any more and that can’t possibly be positive,” Jansen said, adding it’s difficult to quantify the setback after one winter of results.
Wilson’s has steadied its revenue by buying Tofino Bus Lines last fall to become the major operator of bus routes on Vancouver Island.
It applied for and was granted B.C. licences for former Greyhound routes Vancouver-Kelowna and Vancouver-Kamloops, but was then dismayed to learn licences also had been given to rival Pacific Western — the company is now reassessing the viability of continuing to offer those services, Jansen said.
In Edmonton, president Sunny Balwaria of Cold Shot bus services says his business is growing slowly, but he’s not in a position to meet passenger requests for expansion.
“I don’t have deep pockets like (some competitors) and there’s no support from government anywhere, so maybe next year I expand, after I steady out what I have in my hand,” he said.