By Dylana Milobar

Cariboo region still trying to fill gap left behind by Greyhound

Mar 25, 2019 | 8:00 AM

CARIBOO — Some areas of British Columbia are still experiencing a lack of bus service, following the departure of Greyhound.

Since the company exited Western Canada in fall of 2018, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says her riding has suffered tremendously.

“Throughout the whole Cariboo, right to Quesnel, Prince George I’m sure sure of, but there has been no service for people to go north, south, east, or west,” she says. “We don’t have any type of transit. We have our local transit with BC transit in the communities which local governments look after, but that’s it.”

Besides the lack of opportunity for bus service to drive tourism, Barnett says it has been difficult for residents who would normally use the bus to visit family members, along with students coming home from university. 

On top of that, she says having no bus route available is causing problems for patients seeking medical attention.

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“People who do have doctor’s appointments can go on the Northern Health bus, but if their appointments have to be at the time that the bus is going to Vancouver, there is nothing otherwise,” Barnett stresses. “So many seniors can’t get to appointments.”

According to Barnett, the Ministry of Transportation had said they would do what they can to help get the Greyhound gap filled. 

“It is something that the Minister (Claire Trevena) said when Greyhound went — ‘Well we’ll work with every community,’” she says. “Well nothing has happened here.”

Barnett says one company did have a license to operate, however they did not have equipment to service the area.

The problem with that, Barnett says, is with only one license available for the area, when it is taken and cannot be used the market remains closed to competing companies.

She says she’s hoping the Minister will push the Passenger Transportation Board to get service going, and she will be bringing up the issue in the legislature during question period. 

“It’s almost like people are stranded.”

When Greyhound exited, one company did take steps to provide relief to the Cariboo, Fraser Canyon, and Lower Nicola areas without service.

Gene Field, owner of the Merritt Shuttle Bus company, has put that plan on hold for now.

Field says plans to provide more routes though the Cariboo and other areas were derailed, as he has been dealing with the unfortunate death of his business partner, whose wife was also part of the company and has since left that position.

On top of that, he claims it’s been a lengthy process to have money in place to purchase the necessary equipment to go with the license. Initially, Field says he believed the B.C Government would provide assistance.

“We were hoping to get some funding from the provincial government,” he explains. “And unfortunately there was no money allocated.”

Without the money, Field’s company was unable to purchase buses by the March 8 deadline he was given for the application. 

Now, Field says a lot of people are left without bus service.

Field had plans to run routes in the Merritt area, through the Fraser Canyon and Langley, the Cariboo region to Prince George, to the Highland Valley Copper Mine, along with routes running to Kamloops and Kelowna.

“We were also going to be providing bus service for the 41 Aboriginal communities in our area that were promised bus service by the federal government,” he explains. “We were also going to be doing some cargo, and corrections (facilities) that wanted to get on board so we could take people back home after they were done their sentences.”

On top of those options, Field claims he had spoken with Interior Health to inquire if they’d want to invest in the service, but that didn’t happen either.

“I thought it was a little unfair that BC Northern Bus has been funded by BC Transit and Northern Interior Health, and yet nobody wanted to help the people of the Fraser-Canyon, and Lower Nicola Regions.” 

Field says he is not pleased with how the provincial government has dealt with the lack of bus service.

“All they basically said was ‘Oh well we’re going to make the process for getting a license easier’ but there was no funding allocated,” Field explains. “And all they needed to do was even if they had set aside $2 million and say ‘Look, we’ll get you started and we’ll fund you for two years’, which would have given people enough time to establish routes and stuff.”

In regards to other areas who have had other companies come in to replace Greyhound, Field says relying on out-of-province companies should not have happened, and there should have been more done to get B.C companies up and running.

For now, he says his company’s plan are not dead in the water.

“If the situation changes in the next couple of months, where we can come up with the funds and purchase buses, I can always re-apply,” Field hopes. “Our routes are still there, I still have the connections and the contacts that I’ve made.”

If and when service begins, Field says tourism features will also be a big part of the Merritt Shuttle Bus company’s portfolio, among other ventures they’re still looking into.

“The dream isn’t dead, it’s just kind of on hold right now.”