Greyhound closure cuts western lifeline
GRASSLAND, ALTA.— Every other Thursday, Jhenet Melanio pulls out an empty suitcase, rolls it down a dusty town block to the local Greyhound station and boards a bus for the two-hour ride to Edmonton. Melanio, 29, moved to the small northern Alberta town of Grassland in 2013 to be closer to her sister.
She built a life as the supervisor of a local soup and sandwich shop. With the nearest major food store 30 minutes away, she bused south regularly, getting groceries for the return trip.
But the trips took on new urgency this April, when she noticed her eye was bulging.
“In one month I lost four kilos. I went to the doctor because all my friends said, ‘What happened to you?’” she recalled.
A week later, she got a call from the doctor at Sherbrooke Medical clinic in northwest Edmonton, who told her she had hyperthyroidism, an endocrine disorder characterized by rapid heart beat and an increased metabolism. Now, instead of visiting Edmonton once a month, she has a standing appointment every other week for followup tests to monitor the condition.
On Friday, she finally secured an appointment with a specialist at the University of Alberta. The result of that meeting will tell her whether she needs to keep coming back for treatment or can return to monthly visits with her family.
But without a Greyhound bus to get her there, everything has been thrown into question. On Monday, Greyhound Canada announced it was ending service in Western Canada, from Sudbury west to B.C., with the exception of a single U.S.-run route between Vancouver and Seattle. A senior VP attributed the decision to a 41-per-cent drop in ridership since 2010.
But when it closes, those who do ride it say it will leave a critical void for rural Albertans seeking everything from groceries to medical services. Among the communities who will say goodbye to Greyhound is Grassland, a hamlet 150 kilometres north of Edmonton. It consists of a main street lined with a handful of gas stations and diners, plus a hotel, school and fire station. Located next to Hwy. 63, it is for many, a blink-and-you’ll-miss it cluster of buildings on the drive between Edmonton and Fort McMurray. According to data from Statistics Canada, there were 68 people living there in 2016, down about a third from 2011.
For the people who live here the Greyhound station — which also functions as an Esso gas station and restaurant — is a lifeline. Every day about four buses, two headed each way, roll down the main street bringing both people and packages.
Red Arrow, a luxury passenger bus offers similar service and times, but at about double the rate. From Grassland a one-way Greyhound ticket to Edmonton costs about $45, but with Red Arrow it’s about $72.