Last stop: Greyhound cancels western routes

Travellers lamented the end of an era Monday, as Greyhound announced it is ending its bus service in western Canada except for one lone route between Vancouver and Seattle.

Greyhound buses provide the only affordable public transportation across the country, said traveller Jonathan Fortier, who is in the middle of a cross-Canada road trip and was in Calgary for a couple of days to see the city for the first time.

“If I weren’t able to take the bus for this trip, I wouldn’t have a choice but to hitchhike across the country because the planes or trains are very expensive compared to the bus,” said Fortier, who is from Quebec and is visiting as many Canadian cities as he can while journeying back to his home province.

“I want to see my country before I visit Europe or the United States,” said Fortier at the Greyhound station in Calgary on Monday.

Fortier was hopping on the next Greyhound bus with Shayne Gallagher, who was visiting Calgary from Vancouver Island.

“I’ve usually taken the buses to travel long distances and now I’m just going to have to hitchhike from town to town. . . Sometimes people don’t pick you up for days,” he said.

“I don’t see myself buying a plane ticket anytime soon because of expenses,” said Gallagher, who’s been on the road a lot recently. He’s taking a break from his job in construction to backpack across the country, as evidenced by the large hiking pack he had strapped to his back as he waited in the line of a dozen people to purchase a ticket.

“I’m just really bummed out because I like the Greyhound,” he said.

The end of service will mean about 415 jobs are cut, Stuart Kendrick, senior vice-president of Greyhound Canada, said Monday at the Greyhound station in Calgary.

“We’ve seen in the last eight to 10 years a complete spiralling down of our ridership ... When our average load on each schedule is in the single digits, it’s just not sustainable and we don’t see that trend reversing,” said Kendrick, who’s been with the company for 31 years.

Operations will be completely cut in October in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern Ontario as far as Sudbury. British Columbia will be left with the one aforementioned route between Vancouver and Seattle.

The ending of service will impact future travel decisions, said traveller Caroline Genest, who was in town from Montreal for the Calgary Stampede and heading to Edmonton on the Greyhound.

She’s visited Calgary a few times and has always travelled to Edmonton by bus during her visit.

“Maybe if I come back, I’m going to have to take a flight ... (But) flights are pretty expensive. Just from Calgary to Edmonton can be $500, but the bus might cost me $20 to $50; it will impact future trips here,” said Genest.

The Greyhound building in Calgary is owned by the city, so Greyhound will be working with the city to exit the lease and sell its assets.