Northern BC residents will be able to enjoy inter-city bus service for at least another year.
Both the provincial and federal governments are kicking in a million dollars each to extend BC Bus North until March 31st of 2021.
Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson spoke with MyPGNow.com after making the announcement this morning (Tuesday) in the northern capital.
“It means a lot to me because I am from the north being from Hazelton and this bus service since it was put in place after Greyhound left and when we stepped up in 2018 it has meant a lot to people here in the north.”
He adds since the service was launched, northern residents have responded in kind by taking the bus.
“It’s been about 18 months and approximately 500 people per month have been using the service and over that 18-month period there has 8,800 using the service.”
“Smithers to Prince George with UNBC is a big a draw as well as workers accessing camps throughout the north, there is a lot going on with construction and a lot of workers have been using it as well.”
.@DonaldsonDoug announcing the BC Bus North service will be extended until the spring of 2021 @mypgnow #CityOfPG #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/0IszqGAmtL
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) January 28, 2020
Donaldson also hinted on some fare changes as a result of the extension.
“Depending on distances, some routes will go down while some routes will go up. For example, going from Smithers to Terrace will go down by about ten dollars a trip whereas going from Smithers to Prince George will see an increase of five dollars per trip.”
Since Greyhound’s departure from the province, many private-sector companies have picked up the slack throughout BC, however, the north has not seen this option come to the table just yet.
Donaldson states Northern BC has its own set of challenges with geography being one of them, so a government-run service is the best way to go at this point.
“Northern BC is unique due to its large geographical distances and small populations and I think as a northerner, this is the kind of service that needs to be supported by the province and the people of Northern BC deserve it.”
The Federal Government is providing 1 million dollars through the Western Economic Diversification initiative, while the provincial government is matching their contribution to allow services to continue for the next 14 months.
BC Bus North covers nearly 7-thousand kilometres every week or about 28-thousand kilometres per month.