Greyhound Canada informed the Manitoba Motor Transport Board Sept. 3 that it will cease passenger operations in Manitoba in 30 days.
"The decision to cease our operations in Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba was a very difficult one," said Stuart Kendrick, senior vice president of Greyhound Canada in a press release announcing the decision. "We have repeatedly asked the federal and provincial governments to change the existing legislative and regulatory regimes that govern inter-city bus operations. Our financial situation is dire and we are no longer in a position to absorb losses that are almost solely attributable to government policies."
The company also announced that it would no longer run buses in Northwestern Ontario after 90 days, the notice it is required to give to the Ontario Highway Transport Board. No notice is required in Manitoba, but the company said it is providing the 30-day notice period in order to honour all passenger tickets sold to date.
The company is also reviewing its operations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Greyhound Canada said it would continue to work with the federal and provincial governments to try and find a solution to this emergency.
"Greyhound has asked for assistance to cover its losses while the federal and provincial governments develop a solution in order to maintain this essential service to rural Canadians," read the press release. "Bus operators are being forced to financially support unprofitable route services to small-town Canada through an intricate web of cross-subsidies from their profitable passenger routes, from bus parcel operations and from ancillary profit sources."
"Despite numerous attempts over the years to adjust this business model in order to gain a profitable footing, Greyhound Canada has now run out of options," said Kendrick. "We need the provincial and federal governments to work with us on finding a solution to the problems that they have created for our company and our industry."
In June, Greyhound applied to the Manitoba Motor Transport Board - which regulates bus service in the province - to discontinue service on its Flin Flon-Thompson route as well as a van service operating between Snow Lake and Ponton. Hearings on the application were held in Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Thompson in July but the transport board has yet to announce its decision.
Greyhound spokesperson Peter Hamel told attendees at the Thompson hearing July 9 that the Northern Manitoba region had seen a 33 per cent decline in ridership since 2005, including a 16 per cent drop on the Thompson-Flin Flon route in the past year alone.
"The area continues to decline in ridership," Hamel said at the hearing. "If we don't make these type of changes, I don't know if Greyhound can recover."
Burrntwood Regional Health Authority chief executive officer Gloria King released a statement saying that the BRHA was concerned that access to medical services in Thompson would be affected by the cessation of bus services, as that would eliminate four routes in the Burntwood region - to and from Winnipeg, Lynn Lake, Gillam and Norway House.
"There are two affected communities, Lynn Lake and Gillam, which have scheduled air service to and from Thompson," said King. "People in other communities such as Wabowden, Leaf Rapids, Cross Lake and Norway House will find it more difficult to travel to Thompson for medical appointments because these communities do not have air service into Thompson."
"There will be added costs to patients from Lynn Lake and Gillam who might use air services," King added. "In both cases, people will have to stay at least one night in Thompson before returning to their communities. The bus service on all routes allowed for people to arrive and depart from Thompson in the same day."
The company's decision will not affect Thompson transit, which contracts Greyhound to provide buses and drivers for the local bus service, said City of Thompson communications officer Valdine Flaming, as the contract with Thompson transit doesn't expire until late 2010.
NDP MP Niki Ashton (Churchill), who earlier opposed Greyhound's application to discontinue the Flin Flon-Thompson route, issued a statement Sept. 3 calling on Stephen Harper's Conservative government to intervene and prevent the elimination of Greyhound bus service to rural and Northern Manitoba.
"These service cuts will be catastrophic in Manitoba and across the country and the Harper government must work to stop them from happening," said Ashton in a press release. "In many communities in the North, Greyhound is the only source of transportation throughout the region and allows us to connect to essential services such as medical treatment. People in Northern Manitoba and all across our Northern and Rural regions deserve fair treatment and access to services like all Canadians."
Greyhound Canada is the largest provider of intercity bus transportation in Canada, serving nearly 700 communities and offering 1,000 daily departures across the country.
