By The Canadian Press

Nanaimo-Victoria bus route among five Greyhound looks to axe

Aug 31, 2017 | 5:35 PM

NANAIMO — Greyhound Canada has applied to regulators in British Columbia to drop its Nanaimo-Victoria route, as well as four in northern B.C., as the company deals with plunging ridership.

Greyhound calls the decision “regrettably unavoidable” but said there has been a 51 per cent drop in riders since 2010, along with higher costs and increased competition from publicly subsidized services.

The average load on the Nanaimo-Victoria run is nine passengers, the company said.

Routes that would be eliminated include a 718-kilometre run along Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears, between Prince George and Prince Rupert. The company has also applied to drop its routes from Prince George to Valemount, Prince George to Dawson Creek, Dawson Creek to Whitehorse.

Stuart Kendrick, senior vice-president at Greyhound, said the application was filed with the Passenger Transportation Board on Aug. 10 and the process normally takes about 90 days but could be longer because of the proposal to cut five routes.

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“We can’t continue to operate these routes at a loss,” he said, adding Greyhound can’t compete with subsidized BC Transit.

“We’ve communicated to the provincial government for several years that this is eroding our business. It does create an unfair playing field and when you have subsidized transit they’re able to offer fares that are much lower than ours,” Kendrick said.

The Nanaimo-Victoria route is served by other companies, including Tofino Bus and IslandLink Express Bus. BC Transit connects Ladysmith to Victoria. Greyhound moved their main depot in Nanaimo from the Howard Johnson to Departure Bay in 2013.

Greyhound is continuing its discussions with provincial and federal officials regarding viable options for transportation in rural areas, Kendrick said.

The Passenger Transportation Board could call public consultations as part of its decision process on Greyhound’s application.

Camille Bains and Beth Leighton, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the passenger transportation branch would decide whether to eliminate the routes.