One Done, Three To Go In Greyhound Public Hearings
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The Passenger Transportation Board hosted a public hearing this morning to hear from Greyhound representatives and members of the public regarding the company’s application to cut services to the North. Greyhound sent in the application earlier this year and if it’s approved, it will cancel many routes in Northern BC… including the Highway of Tears. It would also cut service from Prince George north to Whitehorse, and from Prince George east to Valemount. Greyhound said ridership has decreased by 51% since 2010 on the routes in question. Greyhound is calling on the provincial and federal governments to create a Connecting Communities Fund, to help cover some of the operating costs in rural communities, but staff say that could take some time. “The decline in the ridership in BC has just been one that has carried on year after year,” said Peter Hammel, Greyhound Regional Vice President, “we’re losing $35,000 a day in BC, we can’t wait for this funding to come through.”
Four members of local government were on hand this morning to speak against the application. Mayor Lyn Hall, Vanderhoof mayor Gerry Thiessen, Mackenzie Councillor Andy Barnes, and Art Kaehn from the Fraser-Fort George Regional District gave presentations. A common concern is scheduling, as many of the northern routes take place late at night or early in the morning. Speakers said a change in scheduling would help increase ridership as it would make routes more convenient for travellers. “In our perfect world we’d like to see an increase in service,” said Barnes, “and better times, coming south at 6 PM everything is closed when you arrive in Prince George. We need better times, that would be a really good thing for us.” Each speaker discussed the importance of keeping northern communities connected, and unanimously agreed a cut in services would be detrimental to the region.
In addition to the public hearings, the Passenger Transportation board received more than 220 letters and more than 1700 emails from the public, many opposing Greyhound’s application. PTB will make a decision by early 2018.
The Passenger Transportation Board will also stop in Terrace tomorrow from 1-3, Smithers on December 13th, and Fort St. John on December 14th. For more information visit PTB. Questions and remarks from the public are accepted during the meetings.
