Alberta adds rural bus service between Le th bridge, Medicine Hat
ROUTE IS EXPANSION OF PILOT PROJECT
Daily bus service from Lethbridge to Medicine Hat, abandoned by Greyhound, will resume this fall as part of Alberta’s expanding rural transportation initiative.
The Highway 3 route, connecting 14 communities, was announced in Medicine Hat Wednesday by Premier Rachel Notley. A shorter route will also link Red Deer with Innisfail, adding to provincially supported pilot projects already serving Albertans in the Camrose, Beaverlodge, Sexsmith and Grande Prairie areas.
At the same time, Notley said, many premiers have joined her in asking the federal government to pay Greyhound to continue its existing runs into 2019 while provincial authorities devise regional and inter-provincial routes for passengers about to be abandoned by the longtime carrier.
The Highway 3 run to Medicine Hat has already been dropped by Greyhound, as well as service west to Fort Macleod and — years earlier — an international connection to a U.S. bus line at Coutts.
The premier said the weekday service would serve medical patients, seniors, post-secondary students and others in southern Alberta communities without public transportation. Nearly 190,000 southern Albertans could make use of the service, offering two to three return trips per day.
Safe, reliable public transportation should be considered an essential service, Notley said.
“We can’t leave rural Albertans stranded along the road.”
A service provider has not been identified, she said. But officials in Medicine Hat are working on a “request for proposal” process that could determine such variables as the fares charged and the type of vehicles used. The Alberta government is providing $700,000 in support for each of the services announced Wednesday.
Fares will have to be affordable, Lethbridge East MLA Maria Fitzpatrick said, if he buses are to attract riders. Speaking to reporters here in Lethbridge, Fitzpatrick said the government started planning its pilot projects before foreign-owned Greyhound announced its decision to quit the business.
“The Greyhound decision just added a little more pressure,” she said. “We’ve been working on this for awhile” through discussions with local mayors and reeves.
Southern Alberta’s elected officials have been asking for service to be restored, she said, including abandoned routes south on Highway 4 and west to the Crowsnest Pass.
Schedules should be geared to southern Alberta residents’ needs, Fitzpatrick noted, instead of being tailored to compete with parcel delivery services.
Responding to the announcement, Mayor Chris Spearman called the project “a welcome opportunity,” developed through dialogue between local and provincial officials.
“I am proud that, as leaders in our community, we were able to be innovative and collaborative with our neighbours to the east, to address a lack of public transportation between the communities along this busy route.”
Speaking for the province’s rural centres, Al Kemmere said members of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta are pleased to see the government’s financial commitment to regional transportation.
“More now than ever our communities need access to transit options to connect with them with education, health care, jobs an families.”
Notley will in Lethbridge this morning for the grand opening of Legacy Regional Park in north Lethbridge.
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