The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the coach and tour bus industry hard in Atlantic Canada, according to the region’s largest busing company.
“People moving people business and having passengers everything has dropped by close to 95 per cent of our normal volumes,” said Mike Cassidy, who owns Coach Atlantic/Maritime Bus.
Cassidy said his company has lost more than $30 million in revenue since the start of the pandemic.
With a federal ban on cruise ships and strict limits, bus tours amid COVID-19, Cassidy said
The company was forced to haul most of its buses off the road and lay off more than 90 per cent of its seasonal staff. The buses that are still on the road that normally carry 56 passengers are reduced to roughly 12 to allow for social distancing, he said.
“We are in low gear. we are not going as fast as we would normally go but we are in business,” said Cassidy.
READ MORE: First New Brunswick COVID-19 death involves resident at Atholville long-term care home
He said they are hoping to kick it up a few gears by becoming among the first in the industry to install plexiglass partitions between the seats on its coach buses.
“There is now protection in front of you and behind you because there is a one-foot plastic shield right behind your head sitting on the headrest,” said Cassidy.
Once the partitions are installed, Cassidy said the buses will be able to carry up to 27 passengers or more if family bubble groups travel together.
It costs roughly $2,500 to retrofit each bus and the company plans to equip about 50 of its coach buses with the guards that travel throughout the Maritimes starting next week.
He hopes the guards will restore consumer confidence in bus travel.
“Employees come back to work and our buses are on the road again and we think we have a game-changer,” he said.
Good Time Adventure Bus Tours owner Cindy Jardine rents her tour buses from Coach Atlantic and said she is not fond of the idea.
“I don’t think people would like it,” she said.
Jardine said it would be a challenge to expect her clients to social distance on her bus tours, all of which are to the United States.
She says that booking less than a full busload of people would not be financially feasible. With the border closed to the U.S., she has already had to cancel four bus tours to New York, one to Boston and one to Nashville due to the pandemic.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.