Greyhound Canada will no longer be providing bus service to and from Campbell River.
A transportation company on the West Coast, however, will pick up the slack as Greyhound eliminates all bus service north of Nanaimo as of tomorrow.
Greyhound will discontinue its Nanaimo to Campbell River route as well as service between Campbell River and Port Hardy after receiving approval from the Passenger Transportation Board on Sept. 15 of this year to eliminate the service. The cuts come after Greyhound cited a Canada-wide loss of $12.5 million in its 2013/14 fiscal year and projected a loss of $12.8 million on its passenger operations this year.
Greyhound attributed those losses to a number of factors, including higher costs for fuel and maintenance, reduced ridership and competition from other inter-city bus operations.
In its application to eliminate the North Island bus service, Greyhound noted that in 2013/14 the average passenger load on the Campbell River to Nanaimo route was 11 riders, compared to 15 in 2011/12 while on the Nanaimo to Campbell River run, average ridership was at 12 passengers, down from 14 in 2011/12.
Greyhound further justified its move to eliminate the service in acknowledging that another carrier has come forward to pick up the slack. Tofino Bus Lines will operate a similar service on the routes Greyhound is abandoning.
Service from Campbell River northbound will be offered at 2 p.m. daily while southbound, busses will leave Campbell River at 7:45 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. daily.
Greyhound said those passengers who have already booked tickets will be able to redeem them for use with Tofino Bus instead.
“Passengers who’ve purchased tickets in advance will not be impacted by the change in carrier services and can either refund their tickets in full or redeem them for travel on the schedule with Tofino Bus,” according to a release.
This is not the first time Greyhound has targeted the North Island for cost savings.
The company applied to and was given approval from the B.C. Passenger Board in 2013 to reduce service on 15 of its routes, including the Nanaimo to Campbell River run, after citing a loss of $14.1 million on its passenger operations in B.C. in Greyhound’s 2011/12 fiscal year.
Tofino Bus, on the other hand, is willing to give it a go.
“All Island Express routes will offer at least the same level of service to your community as your are now getting,” wrote Dylan Green, founder and president of Tofino Bus, in a letter to city council in June.
For more information on bus schedules, visit www.tofinobus.com
