The majority of BC's Greyhound bus lines are covered, but gaps remain

When all remaining Greyhound bus services in BC end on Wednesday, the Minister of Transport stated that buses will continue to serve 83% of the routes.

Claire Trevena is pleased with the number of private companies that have expanded to cover most areas of the province.

"I anticipate that the services provided by the number of companies applying and starting their operations will be a significant improvement over Greyhound with schedules that actually work for people," she said.

However, eight areas of the province that are home to smaller, more remote communities will be unserviced when Greyhound buses leave BC.

• Cache Creek in Kamloops.
• Kamloops to Valemount.
• Valemount to the border between British Columbia and Alberta.
• Dawson Creek to the border between British Columbia and Alberta.
• Salmo in Creston.
• Cranbrook to the British Columbia-Alberta border.
• Fort Nelson to the British Columbia-Yukon border.
• I hope to Princeton.

Provincial officials plan to work with the Pbadenger Transportation Council to issue interest protest requests in remaining areas without service, with the hope that more private operators will come forward, said Trevena.

At this point, the province does not provide public funding to help fill the remaining gaps.

"I think a lot of different ideas are coming in. People will see the gaps and act as they think," she said.

Questions about the service

However, Liberal MPs from rural and northern ridings question the government's calculations regarding the coverage of new bus services in the province.

According to them, an badysis of the number of stops eliminated shows that only about 45% of current routes are maintained by new operators.

"I would like these figures to be justified," said Dan Davies,

"I do not think they've brought it down to 50% in my opinion, certainly if you look at the frequency of services."

The Liberals ask Trevena to disclose the data used to calculate the level of coverage, B.C. will have by bus.

Northern Roads

The province has launched a bus service in northern British Columbia. earlier this year after Greyhound roads in this area were eliminated with little notice.

BEFORE CHRIST. Bus North is a one-year pilot project operated by BC Transit at a cost of $ 2 million. About 1,500 pbadengers have used this service since June 4.

The fare is $ 35 to $ 45 per trip, with two round trips per week between Prince Rupert and Prince George and Prince George and Valemount, and Prince George to Dawson Creek / Fort St. John and one round trip per week from Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek / Fort St. John.

The ministry is still looking for options for the future of bus service in the north, said Trevena.

"We moved in with the BC North bus because there was an urgent need to fill the void when Greyhound pulled out suddenly, so we moved in very quickly there," she said.

"But we are working with communities in search of other solutions."

All remaining Greyhound buses will stop operating in British Columbia. Wednesday. Only the road between Vancouver and Seattle will continue.