Greyhound... Are they worth Giving Money to again?

[vid]

As long as Doug Ford doesn't know Ontario Northland exists, it's safe. And considering Doug Ford is one of those morons who thinks everything north of Steeles is Northern Ontario, I think it will be safe for a while.

[SpongeG]

Province says ridership steadily increasing after BC Bus North launch

CHRIS NEWTON
AUGUST 23, 2018

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – The provincial government says that its new BC Bus North service has recorded approximately 900 riders book trips since its launch at the beginning of the summer.

The long-haul bus service began on June 4th in response to Greyhound Canada’s decision to eliminate service on routes in Northern B.C.

In its first month of service, BC Bus North had close to 300 trips booked, increasing to approximately 450 in July. As of early August, the upward ridership trend continued, for a total number of 900 trips booked in just a little over two months.


BC Bus North was launched as an interim service while the Province works to find a long-term inter-community transportation solution for not only Northern B.C., but the entire province after Greyhound announced that it was ending service in all of Western Canada.

BC Bus North offers twice-weekly service between Prince Rupert and Prince George, between Prince George and Valemount, and from Prince George to Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. Additionally, the service provides one round-trip per week from Dawson Creek and Fort St. John to Fort Nelson.

...

https://www.energeticcity.ca/2018/08...-north-launch/

[casper]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Province says ridership steadily increasing after BC Bus North launch

CHRIS NEWTON
AUGUST 23, 2018

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – The provincial government says that its new BC Bus North service has recorded approximately 900 riders book trips since its launch at the beginning of the summer.

The long-haul bus service began on June 4th in response to Greyhound Canada’s decision to eliminate service on routes in Northern B.C.

In its first month of service, BC Bus North had close to 300 trips booked, increasing to approximately 450 in July. As of early August, the upward ridership trend continued, for a total number of 900 trips booked in just a little over two months.


BC Bus North was launched as an interim service while the Province works to find a long-term inter-community transportation solution for not only Northern B.C., but the entire province after Greyhound announced that it was ending service in all of Western Canada.

BC Bus North offers twice-weekly service between Prince Rupert and Prince George, between Prince George and Valemount, and from Prince George to Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. Additionally, the service provides one round-trip per week from Dawson Creek and Fort St. John to Fort Nelson.

...

https://www.energeticcity.ca/2018/08...-north-launch/

Long a go there was something called BC Rail. Via Rail still operates between Prince George and Prince Rupert.

[casper]

Originally Posted by wave46

Airlines do the same thing. Flying in the summer or near Christmas holidays is more expensive than during the off-season.

I've done that route on Greyhound. They want to hit all the cities in the region, so it makes for slower going. Only at peak times do they use express service.

As for Greyhound itself, while I agree with the logic of the decisions from a business point-of-view, it more definitely hurts communities. I wonder if a smaller shuttle might be the ticket - why use a 60-passenger coach when a smaller bus could substitute on thin routes.

If a network of private operators could interline, you'd have the basics of a system still in place. I'm sure it would be a logistical nightmare, but you could get across the country.

Alternately, at least some travel to the nearest major city should be in order. That might have to be provincially subsidized though, especially from small communities.

What the airlines do is yield management systems. There is a number of seats allocated to each price. So as the aircraft fills up the cheap seats sell out first and eventually its only the most expensive seats that are left. The trick is to use computer modeling to figure out how many seats to have in each fair bucket to ensure you get optimal revenue by not having any empty seats.

As for Greyhound, they were incompetent in pricing in the 1990s when I lived in Ontario. Today it is probably the same.

Needed to get into Ottawa went to the agent in the small town I was in. He explained to me it was much cheaper with him, since his prices were from the 1980s. He had one of those old fashion swip machines (they kind you use to use to manually process credit cards). He would find the correct plastic insert to put in the machine with the route information and price. Put the ticket stock in and make the ticket. They never sent him new inserts so he would continue to use the old prices. That went on for nearly 15 years. In the big city the person selling tickets had these things called "computers".

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by casper

What the airlines do is yield management systems. There is a number of seats allocated to each price. So as the aircraft fills up the cheap seats sell out first and eventually its only the most expensive seats that are left. The trick is to use computer modeling to figure out how many seats to have in each fair bucket to ensure you get optimal revenue by not having any empty seats.

As for Greyhound, they were incompetent in pricing in the 1990s when I lived in Ontario. Today it is probably the same.

Needed to get into Ottawa went to the agent in the small town I was in. He explained to me it was much cheaper with him, since his prices were from the 1980s. He had one of those old fashion swip machines (they kind you use to use to manually process credit cards). He would find the correct plastic insert to put in the machine with the route information and price. Put the ticket stock in and make the ticket. They never sent him new inserts so he would continue to use the old prices. That went on for nearly 15 years. In the big city the person selling tickets had these things called "computers".

Most bus customers don't book in advance, so it is hard to run it like an airline.

[ghYHZ]

I realize Greyhound is ending service in western Canada the end of the month. Will any of the major routes be assumed by other? ie: Calgary-Vancouver, Calgary-Edmonton, Calgary-Winnipeg

[Denscity]

There's an Alberta company ready to do Vancouver Kamloops Kelowna.

[240glt]

^ Yes I believe it's eBus that's going to be extending into BC

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by vid

As long as Doug Ford doesn't know Ontario Northland exists, it's safe. And considering Doug Ford is one of those morons who thinks everything north of Steeles is Northern Ontario, I think it will be safe for a while.

DoFo said he want's to be Prime Minister, so nobody is safe.


As for the original question of this thread. Yes, in a country the size of Canada with such remote populations transportation such as Greyhound and Via need to be supported otherwise we can't expect smaller communities to survive. As a resource rich nation we need these remote place to stay connected for the good of the economy.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by ghYHZ

I realize Greyhound is ending service in western Canada the end of the month. Will any of the major routes be assumed by other? ie: Calgary-Vancouver, Calgary-Edmonton, Calgary-Winnipeg

Calgary - Edmonton already has Red Arrow, I have not heard if they are adjusting their schedule upward as a result of Greyhound pulling the pin.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Calgary - Edmonton already has Red Arrow, I have not heard if they are adjusting their schedule upward as a result of Greyhound pulling the pin.

Looks like Red Arrow is staying at 6 departures a day from Calgary to Edmonton, but their lower rent eBus sister is adding another Calgary daily departure increasing from 3 to 4. So with 10 daily departures I think that route is pretty well covered.

eBus is also starting a Fort McMurray route, and Red Arrow is adding a Grande Prairie route.

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Denscity

There's an Alberta company ready to do Vancouver Kamloops Kelowna.

BC's Passenger Transportation board has approved the following new bus routes (as of Oct 2018):

Rider Express Transportation - Route from Alberta border to Vancouver via Highway 1 and Highway 5. There will be 14 stops, including Golden, Salmon Arm, Chase, Merritt and Langley. It will be a reservation-based service that runs seven days a week, with two departure times per day. Rider Express eventually plans to run service between B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

Diversified Transportation (DBA eBus) - Two routes serving Vancouver - Kamloops and Vancouver - Kelowna. Bookings are reservation-only.

The Vancouver-Kamloops route is daily semi-express departures from Vancouver and Kamloops. Buses will travel along Highway 1 and Highway 5, and additional stops could be made in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope and Merritt. There will also be two daily express departures from both Vancouver and Kamloops via Kelowna in the morning and afternoon.

Wilson's Transportation - Two routes. Commuter, express-style service between Vancouver and Kamloops, and Vancouver and Kelowna. Plan is to operate one trip per day in each direction on a reservation-only basis.

Wilson's has also applied to provide service between Vancouver and Whistler, but a decision is still pending.

Silver City Stagelines - Reservation-only Nelson-Kelowna route, too run a minimum of six times per week. Stops planned in Castlegar, Trail, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway and Rock Creek. It replaces the company’s Trail-Castlegar route.