In Greyhound’s wake, government should stay off the bus
Western Canadian bus riders have received an early Halloween scare: as of Oct. 31, 2018, Greyhound won’t offer passenger routes west of Ontario.
For the company, it means 415 fewer employees and two million fewer passenger rides each year. For bus riders in remote areas, a vital link has been cut.
Some advocates want the government to pick up the slack but taxpayers should hope this never happens. When governments run the buses, more tax dollars make trips than people.
Greyhound Canada has had operating losses in the West since 2004 and ridership there has fallen 41 per cent since 2010. (The only exception is a Vancouver-Seattle route that’s run by its American counterpart and will continue.)