There could be more bus transportation options for the north.
BC Bus North has picked up the slack after Greyhound departed the region three years ago and was extended until March of 2022 by the province.
The government-run provider has dished out over 13-thousand rides since its inception.
John Stepovy is the director of business development for Pacific Western Transportation (PWT) who told Vista Radio there are opportunities to partner up with regional carriers like Adventure Charters.
“They (Adventure Charters) currently provide service from Prince George and then they connect with the EBus service in Kamloops and then from there people can go into Vancouver or Kelowna.”
PWT operates EBus and Red Arrow routes in Western Canada.
Stepovy noted any additional carriers that come on board will have to tailor their schedules around area residents.
“It needs to be focused on people. Trips should be during regular daytime hours because people don’t want to travel at three in the morning if they can avoid it. I think thoughts like that need to take place.”
“For services in rural and remote-type areas, they really need to be focused around the communities. People that understand the communities that collaborate with the citizens to establish a service that meets the needs of the people. That is critical.”
He mentioned the type of bus used could vary based on community size.
“Depending on the area, maybe it’s not the full-size coach maybe it’s a shuttle-type vehicle that connects to a full-size coach to bring people further into a larger centre.”
Stepovy admitted while companies like theirs and Rider Express have their eyes on expanding to Ontario and Quebec after Greyhound ceased operations within Canada on Thursday, the pandemic is still a formidable hurdle to navigate.
“I think it just depends on what the recovery from the pandemic looks like. Hopefully, all the carriers operating are still there and we look forward to working with them.”
“The opportunity is for Canadian entrepreneurs and companies to step up and work together at coordinating services. I mean we see many regions and communities across Canada services do exist, obviously one carrier providing service throughout the service did not work.”
In 2018, BC’s Passenger Transportation Safety Board approved Greyhounds application to terminate routes in Northern BC.
They were the following:
- Prince George to Fort. St James
- Dawson Creek to Prince George
- Prince Rupert to Prince George
- Prince George to Alberta Boarder
Greyhound stated they had seen a 46% decline in ridership, which then led to a loss in profits for the company.
This led to 14 people losing their jobs in Prince George, while the provincial impact was 175.
A month later, the rest of western Canada felt the pinch as all freight and passenger service was discontinued in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In February of 2019, former Prince George RCMP Superintendent Warren Brown hinted of a possible connection between the Greyhound departure and a spike in property crimes during a report to City Council.
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