An unaccompanied minor was removed from an Ebus in Kelowna during the holiday weekend due to a policy change that increased the age limit for riders.
The change caught the family off guard.
It was supposed to be a routine trip from Vernon to Abbotsford by Ebus for Jared Martin’s 15-year-old step son, Riley, who has done the trip in the past on his own.
“We were doing it to bring him home to his mom for Christmas,” said Martin.
Martin purchased the bus ticket online for the unaccompanied minor and Riley boarded an Ebus in Vernon, where he was sent off by a parent on Dec. 23.
When Riley arrived in Kelowna for his transfer, Martin says he was then boarded by the bus driver onto the next bus. However, he was removed shortly afterwards and was told he couldn’t continue his trip alone.
“As Ebus could see this is already happening, there is a minor stranded and he has no one, and they weren’t really doing much to help him,” said Martin
“He was scared and alone without anyone. They were going to send him back on a different bus back to Vernon, where he also had no one because his dad lives in a different city. It just didn’t make sense.”
According to Ebus, their policy changed in September and the age to travel unaccompanied increased to 16 years old.
Ebus also says that on its website it does not allow riders to purchase a child’s ticket without also purchasing a youth or adult ticket.
Global News confirmed this by attempting to purchase a single child’s ticket online.
“I didn’t even think to check because, like I said, he just bused it here back in the summer, maybe a month or so before they changed their policy,” said Martin.
Ebus’ travel policies are listed online and state that to travel within B.C. aboard Ebus, a passenger must be 16 years of age or older, or be accompanied by someone of 16 or older.
“In this case, the customer was booked as a youth (16 -17 years old) although they were only 15 years of age. This policy is in place to protect each and every traveller as they embark on their journeys within B.C.,” Ebus’ BC Intercity Operations director, Glen Desjardine, said in a statement to Global News.
“At Ebus, we take everyone’s safety and well-being seriously, and our travel policies are in place to protect everyone, including those travelling at younger ages.”
Desjardine also said “our Kelowna office is the last staffed office until Vancouver, a trip duration of 5. 5 hours including a 20-minute rest stop in Merritt where all passengers are unsupervised and allowed to disembark.”
“Our offer to the passenger was safe passage back to Vernon, a short distance of only 40 miles and only a single stop at the Kelowna airport where no one is allowed to disembark from the coach, a full refund of the ticket, and supervised waiting in our Kelowna office that is staffed with multiple staff members.”
However, the family decided to pick Riley up from Kelowna.
“Me and my girlfriend had to leave work early and drive up the Coquihalla, an eight-hour round trip. And not only that, his luggage got lost and then we had to drive from Langley to Vancouver and back to get the luggage,” said Martin.
“It was a complete nightmare and it just cost us so much.”
Martin acknowledges they should’ve been aware of the new policies. However, he’s frustrated that Riley was initially allowed on the bus from Vernon to Kelowna.
“The bus driver didn’t even ask for his ID, so they already failed right there and let him on. But, like I said, I had no idea that they changed their policies.”
Ebus told the family that Riley should have been denied boarding at the point of origin and the incident has been passed along to its operations team so the bus driver can be coached on the unaccompanied minor policy.