Regional bus service between Lethbridge, Medicine Hat planned

There is one week left until Greyhound shuts down its Trans-Canada Highway route, and a plan coming forward to create a regional bus service from the Hat to Lethbridge will move to the next stage in November.

Greyhound announced this summer it would close operations in Western Canada on Oct. 31 except for a Vancouver to Seattle line based in the United States.

The province announced in July an expanded regional busing strategy would provide about $700,000 over two years to help create a Medicine Hat to Lethbridge bus route, among three other pilot projects in Alberta.

That project could be up and running in January, according to City of Medicine Hat officials who are administering the provincial program.

Brian Finn, the depot manager for Traxx Coachlines, said his company has only briefly examined adding scheduled service as a possible replacement for the national carrier, but will concentrate on charter services it currently offers.

He expects smaller firms to pick up whatever trade was left over from Greyhound after years of service cuts by the national busline.

“There’s room for shuttle services for travellers (going west),” he said. “From Medicine Hat the difficulty is those who want to go east.”

He also felt the sector has for the most part already adjusted to the loss of Greyhound over recent years when service was reduced as costs were cut to make up for declining ridership.

Greyhound reduced runs and stops on the TCH in southern Alberta years ago, and it has been five years since the national carrier scrapped a Highway 3 route.

In the interim, two well-known smaller carriers, Prairie Sprinter and J&L Shuttle in the Hat, offer daily service to Calgary, offering doorstep pickup and drop-off here, and stops at major locations in Calgary, such as hospitals and shopping centres.

“Greyhound eastbound came through at 2 a.m., and westbound at 2 o’clock in the afternoon,” said Finn. “It’s not really conducive to travellers today.”

One major hurdle is for travellers who needed to go to or from Saskatchewan, with interprovincial carriers facing heavier regulation and insurance requirements.

Several Saskatchewan shuttle services have announced plans to provide rides into Alberta or beyond, but no final announcements have been made.

As for the Highway 3 route, Simon Amos, the city’s manager of community access, which includes the transit department, says the plan is to put out a “request for proposals” from private operators in early November.

Ideally a contractor would run return trips two or three times a day, to accommodate students, seniors or others in the rural communities, according to mission statement announced by Premier Rachel Notley in a trip to Medicine Hat in late July.

“We’ve met with all the municipalities and there is interest, how that interest translates to ridership is to be determined,” said Amos on Tuesday. Nine rural communities along Highway 3, as well as Redcliff, would be serviced including Seven Persons, Bow Island, Burdett, Taber and Coaldale.