By Corey Fischer

Greyhound To Cut Bus Routes, Director Concerned

Feb 21, 2018 | 4:40 PM

Greyhound has received approval to cut several bus routes around the province — including point-of-service stops between Kamloops and Kelowna.

The stops that will be eliminated on June 1st include Monte Lake, Westwold, Falkland and Oyama.

Rene Talbot, the Regional District of Columbia Shuswap director for Falkland, says the bus service has been eroding for a few years there, with no store in the community to buy the tickets.

“And I went online, and the only place you couldn’t buy a ticket was Falkland, so it’s very concerning. There is a number of people that don’t drive, and the bus would be one way of getting back and forth,” Talbot tells CJIB News.

Talbot says will take the issue to the regional board to see if anything can be done to maintain the point of service stops.

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“We can bring it up with the Ministry of Transportation. That’s about all we can do. The other thing is, I’ll bring it up with our MLA, Greg Kyllo.”

Talbot says the RDCS earlier wrote a letter to the Greyhound with their concerns.

“It doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere. I guess it went into the garbage can.”

The BC Passenger Transportation Board has also given Greyhound the green light to eliminate seven routes in the province effective June 1st, in a bid to address a 51 per cent drop in ridership.

Those include Victoria to Nanaimo, Prince Rupert to Prince George, Prince George to Alberta Border and Highway 16, Dawson Creek to White Horse, UBC (University Endowment Lands) – Whistler, and Victoria to Vancouver.

BC’s Minister of Transportation Claire Trevena says she is disappointed with the reduced service, saying it will leave people vulnerable in rural and remote areas.

“In the coming weeks, I will be speaking to local elected officials, First Nations and others affected by Greyhound’s upcoming service changes, so we can deliver long-term solutions that work for everyone,” says Trevena.

“It is vital that people throughout the province have access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation. In the short term, my ministry will be working with Greyhound to ensure buses remain running as we work with communities to develop long-term, viable solutions that address people’s needs.”

by Corey Fischer