Editor, The Times:
I would like to respond to comments in your paper regarding Greyhound’s service reductions in British Columbia (“CAW continues fight against the Greyhound cuts,” in Jan. 31 Clearwater Times online issue).
I am concerned about the potential impact of Greyhound’s service reductions, particularly on rural residents. However, Greyhound is a private company and the alternative was pulling its service out of B.C. altogether.
Greyhound remains committed to providing service across B.C. It has maintained 75 per cent of service in the province and, wherever possible, reducing service on routes with the lowest ridership. The routes through Clearwater that are being reduced generally have about 25 per cent capacity. Routes being reduced in other parts of B.C. often have less than 10 passengers on a 54-seat coach.
The law prevents me from interfering in any way with the Passenger Transportation Board’s decision on Greyhound. The board has a challenging job and considers each decision carefully and thoughtfully and I thank the members for their continued good work.
Greyhound doesn’t have a regulated monopoly in British Columbia. This is an opportunity for smaller carriers to apply to the Passenger Transportation Board to provide new services that could be tailored to meet local needs.
Mary Polak
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure