By battlefordsNOW

Two companies plan bus stops in N.B. as Greyhound winds down

Oct 31, 2018 | 6:30 PM

In the wake of Greyhound’s departure from Western Canada, residents in the Battlefords will have a few options should they need to travel to Saskatoon or other major centres as a number of private operators plan to fill the void. 

Rider Express Transportation will have buses travelling between Saskatoon and Edmonton with stops in North Battleford when requested starting by Nov. 15. Riders will have the option to be dropped off or picked up in North Battleford, Lloydminster and other communities along the way, as long as they make their request one day ahead of travelling at the time of booking. The buses will not stop unless travellers make arrangements in advance. 

Riders will be picked up and dropped off outside the Tim Hortons along Highway 16 in North Battleford.

Buses for Rider Express will leave Saskatoon at 5:30 p.m. and stop in North Battleford around 7 p.m.  For the Edmonton to Saskatoon route, buses will leave Edmonton at 10 a.m. and stop in North Battleford at around 3 p.m. Rider Express will be using its full-size coach buses for this route. Service will be available Sunday to Friday.

“With Greyhound stopping (service), (people) don’t have any other options, so we want to provide them with this service,” said Rider Express owner Firat Uray, adding the company is glad to be able to expand its service to accommodate residents.

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“We were receiving thousands of calls every day,” he added.

In a couple of weeks, Rider also plans to implement a Saskatoon to Winnipeg connection.

Likewise operating along Highway 16 will be KCTI. The company currently runs a bus route between Prince Albert and La Ronge.

Owner Harkanwall Singh said the company has crunched the numbers and believes it can be sustainable running routes between Saskatoon and Edmonton with stops in North Battleford, Lloydminster and Vermillion. They anticipate launching the route Nov. 1, baring some final paperwork.

“We are getting lots of calls,” Singh said.

KCTI anticipates using 15-passenger vans in the interim and possibly introducing larger buses down the road. The company plans to introduce freight hauling in a few weeks.  

The company plans to operate six days a week, with no service on Thursday. The bus will stop at the same Tim Hortons around 10:10 a.m. and depart by 10:20. Returning, the company anticipates arriving in North Battleford by 10:30 p.m. and departing by 10:40.

Greyhound has pointed to financial shortfalls and declining ridership as why it is shuttering operations.

Western Canada Regional Vice-President Peter Hamel, in an email to battlefordsNOW, said ridership has decreased 41 per cent since 2010. He said Greyhound tried to reduce costs by changing route frequencies and schedules, but ridership continued to fall. 

“Unfortunately, we can no longer operate unsustainable routes,” he continued.

The federal government has said it will step in to support the transportation needs of some northern and remote communities affected by the closure of Greyhound bus operations in western Canada and northern Ontario.

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Ottawa is open to help affected provinces pay for bus service in communities where private enterprise has not come forward to service abandoned routes.

As well, Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott says her department will subsidize bus services to remote Indigenous communities where needed.

— With files from the Canadian Press

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca, angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr, @battlefordsNOW