By Dominic Abassi

Greyhound will cut Nanaimo-Victoria bus route; 22 Island jobs impacted

Feb 21, 2018 | 4:25 PM

NANAIMO — More than 20 people on Vancouver Island will soon be out of a job after Greyhound Canada received approval to cut service on its Nanaimo-to-Victoria route, as well as six others in B.C.

The Passenger Transportation Board approved Greyhound’s application to discontinue the run, among others, in a ruling issued Feb. 20. 

PTB chair Catharine Read told NanaimoNewsNOW ridership is low on the island route and Greyhound’s revenues are about half what is needed to break even.

When the application was filed, many people voiced concerns online over losing the Nanaimo-Victoria connection. Read said there’s a perception the route is important to people without vehicles and many have a connection with the company.

“There’s some concerns about people starting to hitchhike or do things like that. There’s some of the nostalgia about losing Greyhound services. But in actual fact the ridership is quite low and Tofino Bus will be providing a very similar service.”

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She said as the board was making their decision on the application to cut the route they received submissions from the City of Victoria and four individuals.

“One senior said his entire family relies on Greyhound service to visit each other, so we did take that into consideration.”

Read noted the board approved an application from Tofino Bus in October of last year to increase their service between the capital and harbour city. They are required to run a minimum of 42 trips per week on the route, the same previously required of Greyhound. IslandLink and BC Transit also serve the corridor, Read said.

In February, the board denied an application from Victoria-based Wilson’s Transportation to begin daily service between Nanaimo and Victoria, citing a lack of public demand.

Stuart Kendrick, senior vice-president at Greyhound, told NanaimoNewsNOW roughly 22 drivers and terminal staff will be impacted by the cuts. He said they don’t have a firm date for when the service will end but it will be before June 1 and they plan on meeting with staff within the next week.

B.C.’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena issued a statement expressing her disappointment with the reduced routes.

A 718-kilometre run along Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears, between Prince George and Prince Rupert is among the others to be discontinued.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi