Bus runs to Kamloops, Coast get green light

2 companies to offer service after Greyhound Canada calls it quits at end of month

Two bus companies have been approved to provide service between Kelowna, Kamloops and Vancouver, filling in gaps left behind by Greyhound.

In July, Greyhound Canada announced it was ceasing bus service in B.C. as of Oct. 31.

Edmonton-based Ebus applied to the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to start operating passenger routes from Kelowna to Vancouver, Kelowna to Kamloops and Kamloops to Vancouver.

Ebus is owned and operated by Pacific Western Transportation Group, the largest privately owned passenger transportation enterprise in Canada. The board approved Ebus’s application this week. “We find the applicant to be a fit and proper person who has the necessary skills and infrastructure in place that would indicate that they are capable of managing and providing the additional service,” the board wrote in its decision.

The board set the minimum frequency level for Ebus at one round trip per day.

Ebus, and other approved providers, may increase service levels at any time without board approval.

Ebus must activate at least two vehicles by Nov. 15, meaning it must submit documents required to obtain a special authorization vehicle identifier to the registrar of passenger transportation.

If it needs more time, then it must make a request to the board before Oct. 31.

The route between Vancouver and Kamloops will take Highway 1 and Highway 5 with stops in Abbotsford and Merritt.

The route between Kamloops and Kelowna will take Highway 97 and Highway 1 with a stop in Vernon.

The route between Kelowna and Vancouver will take Highway 97C, Highway 5 and Highway 1 with stops in Merritt and Chilliwack.

The board also issued preliminary approval for an application by Wilson’s Transportation Ltd. to serve Kamloops, Kelowna and Vancouver. It will become final when the board issues a decision for another route Wilson’s is proposing between Vancouver and Whistler.

Wilson’s currently operates on Vancouver Island as the island’s largest charter bus company.

The route between Vancouver and Kelowna will have stops in Langley, Chilliwack, Merritt and West Kelowna.

The route between Vancouver and Kamloops will stop in Langley, Chilliwack and Merritt.