Greyhound Canada says it is ending its passenger bus and freight services in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and cancelling all but one route in B.C. sa国际传媒� a U.S.-run service between Vancouver and Seattle.
As a result, when the changes take effect at the end of October, Ontario and Quebec will be the only regions where the familiar running-dog logo continues to grace Canadian highways.
sa国际传媒淭his decision is regretful and we sympathize with the fact that many small towns are going to lose service,sa国际传媒� Greyhound Canada senior vice-president Stuart Kendrick said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
sa国际传媒淏ut simply put, the issue that we have seen is the routes in rural parts of Canada sa国际传媒� specifically Western Canada sa国际传媒� are just not sustainable anymore.sa国际传媒�
Kendrick said 415 people will be out of work as a result of the decision, which he estimates will impact roughly two million consumers.
The company is blaming a 41 per cent decline in ridership since 2010, persistent competition from subsidized national and inter-regional passenger transportation services, the growth of new low-cost airlines, regulatory constraints and the continued growth of car ownership.
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Declining ridership is the primary culprit, said Kendrick, who called the combination of declining ridership and increasing costs an sa国际传媒渙ngoing spiralsa国际传媒� thatsa国际传媒檚 making it impossible for the company to continue operations.
He said the company has raised its concerns with provincial and federal officials over the years and wanted to ensure both levels of government were sa国际传媒渇ully awaresa国际传媒� of the situation. Greyhound Canada has long advocated for a community funding model to allow any private carrier to bid on essential rural services, he added.
This came as news to Claire Trevana, B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, who released a statement Monday saying her office had not been warned.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 unfortunate that Greyhound did not communicate their plans sooner. At no point did Greyhound reach out to me, or my staff, to have a conversation on solutions to keep people connected sa国际传媒� something I would have expected, given their long history in this province.sa国际传媒�
Trevana said this decision is sa国际传媒渉ugely problematicsa国际传媒� for people who depend on Greyhound, as it will leave people with limited options to get around and will sa国际传媒渓ikely impact the most vulnerablesa国际传媒�.
Meanwhile, Kendrick said Greyhound Canada will continue to push Ottawa to look at improving transport in northern communities.
sa国际传媒淭here was a commitment to look at our issue, theysa国际传媒檙e well aware of it. It shouldnsa国际传媒檛 come as a surprise that wesa国际传媒檝e had problems but there was no funding commitment at that time,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淭he company has experienced significant losses despite continued efforts to return to viability. In the affected regions, the company has run an operating deficit since 2004. We have had substantial losses over several years as a direct result of declining ridership.sa国际传媒�
All Greyhound routes in Ontario and Quebec will continue to operate except for one: the Trans-Canada, which links a number of smaller communities between Winnipeg and Sudbury, Ont.
Kendrick said the decision will leave most of the affected communities with no other transportation options.
Greyhound Canada applied to provincial regulators last year to discontinue routes in northern B.C. from Prince George to Prince Rupert because of declining ridership. Those cancellations went into effect June 1.
The issue of adequate transportation came up repeatedly during the ongoing inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, since one of the affected routes included the notorious stretch of Highway 16 in B.C. known as the Highway of Tears, where a number of women have gone missing.
The cancellations are scheduled to take effect Oct. 31.
Janice Dickson, The Canadian Press
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