Alternative to Canada Post goes way of Do Do Bird

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Announced on the evening news today the following:

Greyhound cancels bus service in most of western Canada - Effective Oct 31, 2018 - Passenger & Freight!! 

https://globalnews.ca/news/4321313/shock-but-not-surprised-manitobans-react-to-greyhound-bus-shutdow...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p9jKbbHeME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmyZFm-e_sU

-CM

[mrdutch1001]

haven't been a passenger on a Greyhound bus since the early 1980's and haven't used Greyhound freight service  for over 20 years....

like so many other things these days, the service is no longer economically feasible

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

I have used in the past for both transportation and packages. In some cases in can be a much cheaper alternative to plane or as a courier and/or larger items the post office will not accept. For a number of northern  communities and people that do not have access to a vehicle this will cut them off the south. My personal opinion is this should be considered a critical service and be subsidized as required. The other point to take into consideration is what would happen if a Canadapost strike were to happen.This will be one less option possible back up option for deliveries in Canada.

Note, this only affects service for points west of Sudbury, ON based on the announcement.

-CM

[mrdutch1001]

here in Saskatchewan, we already lost our provincial bus service when last year STC ceased operation. A young entrepreneur has since taken on a limited bus service to some parts of Saskatchewan and has already announced with the cessation of Greyhound in the west, that expanding his routes is an option. I am sure there are others out there who will seize the opportunity and offer some sort of bus service in those other provinces as well.

[femmefan1946]

My personal opinion is this should be considered a critical service and be subsidized as required.

Which is why the Conservative Saskatchewan government cancelled the subsidized bus service a few months back.

There is another bus company, Red Arrow, in Alberta.

And a temporary bus service has been set up in Northern BC, basically servicing the Highway of Tears, between towns and isolated reserves.

AB andBC have NDP governments, but that would have nothing at all to do with the situation.

[cumos55]

The situation for Greyhound and cancellation of Greyhound services in Manitoba was presented in the Winnipeg Free Press today.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Greyhound brought this on themselves. Each time they reduced service, made departure/arrival times inconvenient and increased the fares, less people used. Haven't required using Greyhound in 7 or 8 years but the times I did, it was always full and they were needing to add extra buses. Still boggles the mind, that a developed country the size of Canada no longer has a reliable passenger train service. Maybe someone will come along with a national stagecoach service for passengers and mail???

-CM

[femmefan1946]

It might be worth noticing that Greyhound is a US company. I don't recall seeing anything to indicate that they were even a subsidiary.

But there are now a lot of intercity buses, terminal leases and garage/service centres available on the Prairies.

And I can see isolated towns being interested in having a bus service.... ah.... no.

Based on DD's experience in her small BC mountain town, where the town bus (only one) has an hourly service although it does have a large community college, the town fathers will be more likely to decide that this is an opportunity for the local used car dealers.... who are also on council.

OTOH- reserves and band councils were important in getting the BC Highway of Tears service set up, so there may be an opportunity for entrepreneurial aboriginal groups. 

[marnotom!]

On Vancouver Island, a couple of regional transportation companies stepped in when Greyhound ceased operations there. I don't see any reason why other companies can't step up to the plate if there's a sound case to be made to continue bus service in other parts of Western Canada.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

I hope there is enough of an uproar regarding this issue and that other companies realize that this is a required service. Everywhere across Canada!!  There are pockets in S. Ontario that haven't had any kind of bus service for almost 20 years. They weren't impressed when it happened and still aren't. They have to make special arrangements at a premium if they don't have access to a vehicle for example if they need to catch a plane in either Toronto or London. This is going to become even more important with an aging Canadian population as some of them lose their option of driving.

-CM

[femmefan1946]

Way back in the 1970s, I was listeningto a consumer program on CBC about a woman, living in Mississauga, very much a car-centric suburb, who was wondering if it was worthwhile buying a new car.

Her alternative was calling a taxi when she needed transport.

The conclusion of the 'expert' was that if she was spending less than $200 a month (again- 1970s) for taxis, there was no reason for her to get a car.

About that time, in downtown Ottawa, we mostly bussed to work and school, but rented a car about once a month for big shoppings and for trips.  I noticed on 'Second Jen'  a rather sweet TV comedy , that the contemporary characters do the same.

So taxis and rentals can be used if distances and budgets allow.

I still think that long distance bus and train service is a necessity in more isolated areas. 

Publicly owned would be a hard sell in these 'populist' times.

And we see where privately owned got us.

[marnotom!]

Further to my earlier post:

http://www.vancourier.com/wilson-s-looks-at-taking-over-some-greyhound-bus-routes-1.23363924

[momcqueen]

If you want any other examples for how much American companies care about the well-being of people in Canadian communities, look up the situation with OmniTrax in Churchill. I used to work with Merv Tweed but if I saw that man today, I'd be hard-pressed not to kick him in the shins.