One of Canada’s largest busing companies, Greyhound Canada, has pulled its services out of Western Canada.
The number of routes offered by Greyhound in the western part of the country had been dwindling for the past year, with several single route closures throughout the first half of 2018.
On July 9, it announced it would be ceasing all operations west of Sudbury, Ontario by Nov. 1.
The company’s operations are now solely confined to Quebec and Ontario.
The Alberta government said more than 82 per cent of the routes once driven by Greyhound buses will be covered by other private carriers.
“For Albertans in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, bus services have been a lifeline to work, school, vital health care, family and friends. That’s why our government will be working with companies to ensure that service continues across the province. We said we will not leave people stranded by the side of the road,” said Brian Mason, Alberta’s Minister of Transportation in a news release.
The provincial and federal government are also set to invest up to $2 million a year, over two years, to provide transportations services to rural communities.
John Stepovy, director of business development at Red Arrow Motorcoach, said the company is doing its best to widen its reach.
“Greyhound had a pretty far-reaching web. We’ve expanded our economical line, Ebus, into BC, covering Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna as a starting point. We’ve also expanded Red Arrow’s service into Grand Prairie and a few communities in that corridor. We haven’t moved into Lethbridge yet with Ebus. We need to establish that and continue to grow from there.”
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Greyhound saw a large clientele in the student population of Lethbridge due to lower costs and frequent trips to smaller towns, but Justeen Noyes, a Lethbridge College student, said the costs of other lines can be restrictive.
“When I was trying to book a bus trip from here to Edmonton, it ended up being $148. That is literally crazy; as a student, there’s no way I can afford that… Now that Greyhound is out of business, I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have a car, because I probably wouldn’t be able to afford to go home as often.”
Stepovy said Ebus, with student discounts, is usually on par with where Greyhound prices were before they stopped service.
“We do have student rates. You’re getting a pretty good discount being a student. We try to keep the price as affordable as possible with our Ebus brand and discounts are pretty in line with what Greyhound’s pricing was. With Red Arrow, we do have a lot of students that travel with us from all over Alberta,” said Stepovy.
Six new pilot projects across the province have received funding through the Rural Transportation Pilot Program (a provincial government public transportation initiative) to provide more transportation options for people in rural Alberta.
Northern Express Bus Line, Cold Shot and Rider Express are also expanding the routes they offer to make up for Greyhound’s closure.
