Greyhound Canada has recently filed an application with the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to discontinue passenger service on five routes, including their daily route through 亚洲天堂 Lake.
Among the factors that led to this decision, Greyhound points to urbanization, increased competition from subsidized passenger transportation and ride-sharing services, and recent reductions in oil prices, which they say have prompted more people to travel by car.
鈥淒espite significant efforts over the past several years to reduce costs as well as other measures to adapt to the market, the status quo is no longer sustainable,鈥� stated the company in a press release last week.
A total of 57 employees will be affected.
鈥淎ffected employees will be notified of their layoff/termination and given the opportunity during the working notice period to exercise their seniority to bump within their location or into another location,鈥� said Wendy Cumming, a Greyhound spokesperson.
Jarrett Anderson, who sells Greyhound tickets in his 亚洲天堂 Lake store - which includes Blu Jay Sports and Sears, said he was not surprised by this announcement.
鈥淲e knew that once they [province] put the new transit bus in, there was probably a good chance that Greyhound was going to pull the passenger service,鈥� he said, referring to the new Hwy. 16 bus service that started last June and charges $5 per ticket.
鈥淕reyhound warned local governments that this was a possibility if things went through,鈥� he added.
However, Anderson says his business likely won鈥檛 be hugely impacted since Greyhound intends to continue with its freight services along the Hwy. 16 route. Greyhound is entering into partnership agreements to ensure there are no disruptions in service for freight customers.
Greyhound鈥檚 passenger and freight services will continue to operate normally during the regulatory process review period.
鈥淲e do not anticipate any changes will come into effect until early 2018,鈥� stated the company.
Greyhound has filed an application to discontinue passenger service on the following routes:
- Prince George to Prince Rupert;
- Prince George to Valemount;
- Prince George to Dawson Creek;
- Dawson Creek to Whitehorse;
- Victoria to Nanaimo.
Since 2010, ridership on these five routes has dropped by 51 per cent. From 2003 to 2013, Greyhound ran two rounds trips daily between Prince George and Prince Rupert; in 2013, this was reduced to one round trip daily due to declining passenger numbers.
The application filed with the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board also aims to reduce the number of stops on other routes and to have the option to reduce the minimum number of runs on other routes.
鈥淚 know that the proposed route reductions will be a difficult change for affected passengers and communities, and we deeply regret having to issue this filing,鈥� said Stuart Kendrick, Greyhound Canada鈥檚 senior vice president. 鈥淭he situation has come to a head, however, and despite a long-standing series of corrective measures and discussions with regulatory officials, the reality is that we can no longer operate the unsustainable routes, and we are proposing changes that will make other B.C. routes more viable.鈥�
According to Greyhound, the company has taken numerous steps between 2010 and 2017 to address the issue of declining ridership, including reducing bus size and refurnishing older buses to avoid new bus purchases, and discussions with government to stem losses in B.C.
鈥淯nfortunately, the downward trajectory has continued, marked by a province-wide ridership drop of nearly 46 per cent [since 2010],鈥� added the company.
