Government should provide rural bus service: poll

WINNIPEG As the loss of the Greyhound bus service looms over Western Canada, a new public poll suggests most Canadians are looking to the government to fix the problem.

After Greyhound Canada announced in early July that it was planning to slash bus routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Angus Reid Institute, a national nonprofit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation, conducted a poll of 1,500 Canadian adults who were members of the Angus Reid Forum.

The poll found six in 10 respondents (60 per cent) showed support for a federally funded rural bus service, and a slightly larger number of people (64 per cent) were in favour of provincially funded service.

Angus Reid Institute said the support for government intervention was not only from frequent Greyhound Canada patrons, but also those who have been on a Greyhound bus, as 55 per cent of Canadian adult residents have used a Greyhound bus at least once in their lives, the research institute said in a news release.

Angus Reid Institute added that many Canadians are hoping it won’t have to come to a government-funded service, with more than 40 per cent saying the government shouldn’t have to solve the problem, adding private companies will do so if there is sufficient demand.

In addition, Angus Reid Institute found 56 per cent of those surveyed said government should step in and maintain northern bus services as opposed to 44 per cent who said it was not the government’s problem. Only five per cent of respondents expect to be personally affected by Greyhound’s decision.