Small town commuters worry about how they’ll get around

SUSAN LAZARUK

Valerie Peters is dreading the day the last Greyhound bus pulls out of Quesnel on Oct. 31.

The inter-city bus company, which announced last month it was discontinuing all bus routes within Western Canada, is cutting off the only way Peters has of getting to her job in Vancouver.

Since she lost her full-time job in the oilpatch and has had to go on to a disability pension, she takes work as she can get it in the film industry.

“I had an accident and for medical reasons I can’t work at my old job any more,” she said. “So somebody said, go to Hollywood North and be an extra, so that’s what I do, parttime.”

She’s one of thousands of passengers who will be left without regular bus service in parts of the province without scheduled bus service.

And it’s still uncertain whether or not people in areas where bus companies have applied to offer service — but haven’t yet been approved — will have service on Nov. 1.

“We’re still waiting on the Passenger Transportation Board to approve our application,” said John Stepovy of the Edmonton-based Ebus company that would like to operate scheduled daily bus service between Kelowna and Vancouver and between Kamloops and Vancouver.

Peters, who doesn’t drive and who lives outside of Quesnel, takes the 11-hour ride into Vancouver whenever she gets a gig, and stays with friends to cut expenses.

She said without a vehicle, it’s difficult for her to take steady work in Quesnel “and this is the only way that I can make a little cash.”

But with Greyhound cutting service in about two weeks, “People are starting to panic,” she said.

The transportation board has received seven recent applications from bus companies wanting to provide scheduled inter-city bus service.

One between Nelson and Kelowna has been approved, two servicing Whistler will be reviewed shortly and decisions are “pending” for four other proposals, according to the PTB website.

“We have all the applications and we have the status of them posted,” said board director Jan Broocke.

Ebus has its coaches ready to hit the road and has been hiring extra drivers but will need some time to set up the pickup and drop-off network and arrange other operational details, which will take at least two weeks, said Stepovy.

“We’re getting to that critical point,” he said.

Greyhound said its pullout was necessary because of a 40 per cent drop in ridership since 2010.

Peters said if no company wants to provide service in the more rural parts of the province, “I think it should fully be the government’s responsibility” to offer intercity bus service.

B.C. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But the ministry sent an emailed statement saying it “recognizes the importance of encouraging the private sector to take over routes that will no longer be served by Greyhound” and that “several” have applied.