Greyhound now has the option of drastically reducing service to Okanagan communities but the company said “operations will remain business as usual” for now.
The B.C. Passenger Transportation Board has ruled the company can eliminate nine routes around the province and three route segments.
This includes service between Monte Lake and Vernon along Highway 97 on the route between Kamloops and Kelowna, and service between Hope to Kaleden on Highway 3 and 3A on the route between Vancouver and Osoyoos.
The B.C. Passenger Transportation Board reasoned that “these routes or route segments have extremely low ridership and very large operation losses that significantly impair Greyhounds’ financial viability’.”
The bus company will also be allowed to reduce the number of times it runs 10 other routes, including many Okanagan routes such as Kelowna to Penticton and Kelowna to Vancouver, down to four trips a week.
In many cases, this would mean a drastic drop-off in service. For example, the Kelowna to Penticton route currently runs at least 28 times a week.
The B.C. Passenger Transportation Board said the company needed more flexibility.
“It is a for-profit transportation company that receives no subsidies and it must, at times, compete with transportation companies that receive substantial subsidies,” the board said in its decision.
“The board expects Greyhound to adhere to its often-stated commitment to reduce service in a gradual manner, if this is required, and to increase service where demand requires.”
The company will have to wait until at least the start of June to eliminate the route segments between Hope and Kaleden and Vernon and Monte Lake, and must give 14 days’ notice of the change.
In a press release, Greyhound emphasized that “for the time being, the company’s operations will remain business as unusual.”
The company said where it can eliminate or change routes before the beginning of June it will “base its decisions on passenger demand with sufficient notice to our customers for planned route changes – for example, frequencies may be increased or decreased.”
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