Greyhound service in Western Canada stops at midnight: Now what?

[cc]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-western-canada-1.4884374">Greyhound service in Western Canada stops at midnight: Now what?



[Can't blame Greyhound, they can't keep loosing money. For those dependent on bus service, it's disaster]



Small towns from Osoyoos, B.C., to Massey, Ont., will lose their bus connection to the wider world Wednesday night, when Greyhound Canada ceases its service to Western Canada.



Greyhound's announcement meant that about 400 locations across Canada would lose service.



The last Greyhound bus pulls into a station in Western Canada Wednesday night at midnight, the victim of high costs and declining ridership, according to U.S. parent company Greyhound.



Greyhound announced in July that it was ceasing all service in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, with the exception of its service between Vancouver and Seattle. It pulled out of northern B.C. in May and stopped booking return trips a few days ago.



"Despite best efforts over several years, ridership has dropped nearly 41 per cent across the country since 2010 within a changing and increasingly challenging transportation environment," Greyhound said in announcing the withdrawal. "Simply put, we can no longer operate unsustainable routes."



Greyhound has 360 stops in Western provinces. For 300 of them, Greyhound is the only service.



http://www.cbc.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4761868!/fileImage/httpImage/image.gif">

[Anonymous]

There will be a number of companies picking up the slack. One of them is a company out of Regina, Rider Express.



A first look at Rider Express, one of the bus lines looking to replace Greyhound in Calgary

https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2018/10/29/a-first-look-at-rider-express-one-of-the-bus-lines-looking-to-replace-greyhound-in-calgary.html">https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2018/10 ... lgary.html">https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2018/10/29/a-first-look-at-rider-express-one-of-the-bus-lines-looking-to-replace-greyhound-in-calgary.html

[cc]

For "some" areas yes, and only for so long as it remains profitable. For many, nada from the gitgo



As you know, capitalism runs on profit ONLY



With a few exceptions, only large city to large city runs remain borderline viable

[Anonymous]

For "some" areas yes, and only for so long as it remains profitable. For many, nada from the gitgo



As you know, capitalism runs on profit ONLY



With a few exceptions, only large city to large city runs remain borderline viable

Red Arrow will add new routes too.

[Anonymous]

For "some" areas yes, and only for so long as it remains profitable. For many, nada from the gitgo



As you know, capitalism runs on profit ONLY



With a few exceptions, only large city to large city runs remain borderline viable

Are you badmouthing my beloved capitalism again, comrade cc. ac_razz



Changes needed to be made. Maintaining big expensive terminals in cities is one of the best examples. What a waste of money. They should be picking people up at city bus terminals and parking lots, which the replacement companies will do.

[cc]

"Comrade" says > No, not at all - just saying how it works .... on profit .. as it should and must



Without profit a product fails. If someone else can't find a way to provide the product at a profit, there will be no such product



At least smaller companies expanding fast  and new startups will have a plethora of well trained former Greyhound drivers to draw from ... Hopefully that is what happens, as otherwise the risk level would be great

[Anonymous]

"Comrade" says > No, not at all - just saying how it works .... on profit .. as it should and must



Without profit a product fails. If someone else can't find a way to provide the product at a profit, there will be no such product



At least smaller companies expanding fast  and new startups will have a plethora of well trained former Greyhound drivers to draw from ... Hopefully that is what happens, as otherwise the risk level would be great

The entire business model was not free market from the get go. Provinces limited competition on milk runs, in exchange for servicing remote communities. Busy runs subsidized the money losers.



Rising property taxes, fuel taxes and carbon taxes combined with reduced riders even on milk runs has made the monopolized capitalist model unsustainable.

[Bricktop]

Canada has the same personal transport issues as Australia. Far flung, small communities with an ageing population who still need access to larger cities and provincial hubs, but not enough for bus companies to cover costs.



Add to that the fact that bus transport is slow and tiring, and it's easy to see why it's an unpopular necessity.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been on an intercity bus since my last impaired about twenty years ago.

[Bricktop]

My last intercity bus journey was in the UK...Peterborough to London.



Train, 40 quid return.



Bus, 8 quid return. Around a 20 minute time difference.

[Anonymous]

My last intercity bus journey was in the UK...Peterborough to London.



Train, 40 quid return.



Bus, 8 quid return. Around a 20 minute time difference.

That's about 160 km. That's not too bad. But, the distances in countries like Australia and Canada make bus rides a travel mode of last resort.

[Anonymous]

The government of Saskatchewan sold off the provincially owned bus line. Greyhound picked up most of the slack. Smaller companies too. Some towns with few passengers got their service reduced. A few had service cancelled entirely. If people want service, you can be sure some little company will provide that service.

[Anonymous]

Companies are filling the void.



A new Edmonton-based bus service is preparing to step in to fill some of the gap created by Greyhound Canada, which is discontinuing its services in Western Canada as of midnight Wednesday.



"By mid-November we will have eight routes providing full passenger and freight service to northern Alberta," Sunny Bulwaria, president of Cold Shot, said Wednesday.



"We have four existing routes and will be combining them with the four Greyhound routes that we had operated for them since 2015," Balwaria said.



The company will provide service connecting Edmonton to Grande Prairie, Peace River, Camrose, Cold Lake, Jasper, Calgary, Fort McMurray and Lloydminster.



Cold Shot has 18 buses and will have 10 more in mid-November with the expansion, Bulwaria said.



Cold Shot uses "comfort-customized" 20-passenger shuttle buses rather than coaches.



The smaller buses are more cost-effective to operate, he said.



"By using smaller buses we will be able to pass on savings to our customers," Bulwaria said.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/edmonton-bus-company-aims-to-fill-void-left-by-greyhound/ar-BBPbt8V?ocid=mailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstor ... ailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/edmonton-bus-company-aims-to-fill-void-left-by-greyhound/ar-BBPbt8V?ocid=mailsignout

[Anonymous]

Bus ridership is declining across Canada. Like Canada Post with a lot less mail to deliver we knew big changes were inevitable.

[Anonymous]

Bus ridership is declining across Canada. Like Canada Post with a lot less mail to deliver we knew big changes were inevitable.

Even between major hubs, there are fewer passengers taking buses.