Feds must do more to save bus service: NDP
The NDP MP for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River says the federal government has an obligation to either save Greyhound bus service in Western Canada or help subsidize a new one.
Greyhound announced this week it is terminating all their routes across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba in the fall, with the last bus to run Oct. 31. The comapny said they’d seen a 41 per cent decline in demand in the last eight years and the services have become financially unsustainable.
“While there are no routes in my riding, this is very disheartening news,” Georgina Jolibois told paNOW. “Many northerners across Canada travel by bus and they also need to get to medical appointments.”
Some private businesses have expressed interest in taking over some of the passenger and freight routes being dropped by Greyhound, and there is even preliminary interest in reviving some of the already-defunct inter-city services in Saskatchewan. While Jolibois welcomed any private interest on economic development grounds, she said it was ultimately the federal government’s responsibility to handle interprovincial transport.