Greyhound Canada wants to end bus passenger service in northern B.C.
An application has been submitted to the provincial Passenger Transportation Board to withdraw service from the entire stretch of Highway 16 and along Highway 97 from Prince George to Dawson Creek and, in turn, along the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, Stuart Kendrick, the company’s senior vice-president, has confirmed.
Between a declining rural population and subsidized services provided by Northern Health and, lately, by BC Transit, he said Greyhound simply cannot stay above water.
“We’ve just had multiple years of losses on the passenger business,” he said. “The ridership is basically diminished and we’ve seen some increased competition from the subsidized services.”
In late June, BC Transit launched a new service connecting Prince George to Burns Lake and Smithers along Highway 16 West, known as the Highway of Tears due to the number of women who’ve gone missing or have been murdered along the stretch.
