Province looking at how to fill the gap as Greyhound leaves western Canada

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VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – B.C.’s transportation minister says her government is speaking out after the Greyhound decision to cut nearly all routes across western Canada was announced yesterday.

Claire Trevena says the B.C. Government is looking into a variety of options ahead of the October 31st deadline.

“We’re going to be looking at ways we can work together, because this is not just a B.C. problem, it’s a Canadian problem. It is something that’s going to impact people literally from Ontario out to [our] coast. So, we do want to ensure that we’re working well together on this.”

A meeting has been set for Thursday, and she says the B.C. Government is working with other busing companies to see what can be done.

“Many people simply can’t afford to run a car, definitely can’t afford to use the train or fly anywhere, and they rely on good bus service. One of things we’ll be looking at is how that bus service can be provided. We have many vulnerable people in our province…who will need to have some bus service.”

If the speculation of the mass exodus is a ploy to get governments in western Canada to subsidize the company’s less-popular routes is true, the minster says it’s not a good tactic on Greyhound’s part.

“[I’m] going to be working to try to ensure that we have services that are in place that serve the needs of the people in British Columbia and I believe that my counterparts in the rest of western Canada will be also looking to ensure that their populations get bus service across western Canada.”

She says when Greyhound pulled out of northern B.C. because it couldn’t make the system it had work, the province stepped in with a pilot project with a comparable service for people who rely on it.

“A model can work, we will not be subsidizing Greyhound.”

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