Provincial Transportation Minister Claire Trevena remains committed to finding some kind of replacement for the departing Greyhound passenger service along Highway 16, but what shape that may take and when it might surface has yet to be figured out,said Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc.
Leclerc said she had a phone call with Minister Trevena about Greyhound during her visit to the Northwest last week, which did not include a stop in Terrace.
Leclerc said the minister assured her there was a lot of acknowledgment and work taking place toward finding a solution, but was told there would likely be nothing to replace Greyhound service before their June 1 withdrawal.
READ MORE: Greyhound cleared to end routes in north
“There are a lot of people engaged, and the question does come up of whether or not the provincial government will subsidize this,” Leclerc said on Monday. “B.C. Transit would be a link, perhaps, that might be able to help. But some of the problems are it would be hub-to-hub, which means people may be spending an overnight and that’s just not going to work.”
Concern about what will happen when Greyhound pulls out of northwestern B.C. grew in February when the provincial Passenger Transportation Board agreed to the company’s request to abandon eight mostly rural passenger lines in B.C. after the company said it was losing money on them because of declining ridership.
Service is scheduled to finish the end of May but the company said it will continue to run freight.
READ MORE: Greyhound calls for public transportation fund
Greyhound several years earlier had received the board’s approval for a first reduction of service along Highway 16.
It’s been affected by a number of factors ranging from economic upturns and downturns to, for example, a bus service operated by the Northern Health Authority to transport people to health care appointments and facilities.
Leclerc said ideas discussed ranged from a ride-sharing smartphone application to adjusting B.C. Transit’s schedule which connects communities along the highway but which does not offer a through-service such as Greyhound’s.
Ride-sharing app
Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach said he was intrigued by the contact made by the developer of a ride-sharing app which would work to connect people with vehicles to people needing a ride and was looking forward to a more comprehensive conversation with the developer.
However, Leclerc felt the possibility was unlikely because of possible safety concerns. She also mentioned that Minister Trevena will be speaking with other ministries about this and they remain committed to working on the issue.
The prospect of adjusting BC Transit’s schedules which now focus on a spoke and hub model along separate routes of Prince George to Burns Lake, Burns Lake to Smithers, Smithers to the Hazeltons and the Hazeltons to Terrace has also been discussed but has significant challenges.
Service from Smithers to Hazelton is now Monday, Wednesday and Fridays while service from Hazelton to Terrace is on Tuesday and Thursday.
The routes were started in the last year, based on a BC Transit poll of residents along Highway 16 asking which days and times would work best.
Bachrach also said there were practical aspects to consider if BC Transit were to be asked to adjust its schedule to more of a through service along Highway 16 because of the size limitations of B.C. Transit buses in comparison to Greyhound’s.
“That would be one of the limitations — the size of the buses. It’s eight hours between Prince Rupert and Prince George.”
READ MORE: Terrace to Hazelton bus service launched
And even if BC Transit could adjust its schedule, there’d be another challenge in moving people between Terrace and Prince Rupert in the attempt for a seamless Prince George to Prince Rupert service.
That’s because civic officials in Prince Rupert opted out of backing a BC Transit connection between the two communities, favouring instead an existing service through the North Coast Transition Society which transports at-risk women and children out of the coastal community when and as needed.
For its part Greyhound has suggested a community transportation fund be created which would then form the basis for companies to bid on providing a passenger service. But two weeks ago one of its senior officials in Western Canada said no one had responded to the suggestion.
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