People with input on Greyhound鈥檚 request to withdraw from the north are being invited to public hearings in the region Dec. 11-14, to speak to the governing board that will make the ultimate decision.

Meetings are being held the Passenger Transportation Board in Prince George Dec. 11, Terrace Dec. 12, Smithers Dec. 13, and Fort St. John Dec. 14.

The board reported that it got 1,700 form letter emails about the proposed Greyhound route changes for Hwy16. They also got more than 220 written comments from people across B.C., of which more than half were about services in the north central region.

鈥淧ublic meetings will allow the Passenger Transportation Board to hear directly from individuals and community representatives about their transportation use and how the proposed changes could affect them,鈥� said board chair Catharine Read in a press release today, Nov. 29.

鈥淭he board will also hear directly from Greyhound about its passenger services and business model that relates to the application.鈥�

Greyhound Canada Transportation applied back in September to eliminate nine routes in B.C. and reduce service or eliminate stops on 10 routes. The request included plans to cancel the Hwy16 route from Prince George to Prince Rupert.

SEE PRIOR STORY HERE:

Northern B.C. mayors and regional district leaders have voiced strong opposition to the request, saying its a basic transportation need and a safety issue in the region, since this is the Highway of Tears.

After pressure was put on at Union of BC Municipalities convention, northern leaders had planned to meet directly with Greyhound, meetings which have yet to be arranged.

The Passenger Transportation Board, which will decide whether to approve Greyhound鈥檚 request to withdraw, is hosting the public hearings and says it will make a final decision in early 2018.

People who want to be speakers at the Terrace or other northern public hearings, are required to register by noon Friday, Dec. 8.

The Terrace meeting is at Best Western in the Skeena Room at 1-3 p.m.

For info on the other public meetings, go here:

To register as a speaker, click here:

And here鈥檚 the Greyhound application to the passenger board: