Bus service planned for Highway of Tears

A bus service to link communities along a notorious stretch of highway in northern B.C. known as the Highway of Tears will carry passengers by the end of the year, Transportation Minister Todd Stone said Wednesday.

Eighteen women have been murdered or have disappeared along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert and adjacent routes since the 1970s. Many were believed to have been hitchhiking.

First Nations, social service agencies and women’s groups have been calling for a shuttle bus service in the area for several years to provide regular transportation for people who live in communities along the 750-kilometre route.

The highway cuts through the centre of the province and follows rivers and mountains, passing through numerous small communities, including Houston, Smithers and Burns Lake. The route also provides the main transportation link to and from remote First Nations villages located off the main highway.

Most cases of murdered and missing women remain unsolved, though investigators don’t believe a single killer is responsible.

Stone said agreements among 16 communities along the highway will allow B.C. Transit to operate a scheduled bus service between Prince George and Prince Rupert. “This initiative is all about safety,” he said. He said the communities, the province and B.C. Transit must still develop service schedules and provide extra buses for the route.

Stone said plans for the Highway 16 area also include offering bus driver training programs for First Nations to provide transportation service from their remote villages to other major communities along the highway.

“I remember I felt vulnerable when I had to go from one community to the next and thinking, ‘Should I take a chance and hitchhike?’ ” said Wanda Good, deputy chief of the Gitanyou First Nation.

Good said while some may criticize the $5 million Victoria and Ottawa are sending for various safety improvements, including the bus service, it will be worthwhile “if it saves one woman from being picked up by the wrong person.”

In her own family, Good’s cousin Lana Derrick, 19, of Terrace disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking and never heard from again. Her second cousin Alberta Williams, 24, of Prince Rupert went missing and her body was found dumped outside the city 10 days later on Sept. 25, 1989. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

But Chief Corrina Leween of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation said while the bus service helps many living in towns on or near the highway, it offers little comfort to those off the main road.

Five Cheslatta people, including a family of four and a male elder, have disappeared from the area over the years, she said.