Greyhound Canada is the latest bus company to pull its routes out of North Battleford and the surrounding area.
In a news release Monday, the company announced it will be discontinuing all its routes outside of Ontario and Quebec, with the exception of its Canada-U.S. route in British Columbia, effective Oct. 31. Routes to several northern Ontario communities are also being discontinued on that date.
In Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon-Edmonton and Winnipeg-Saskatoon routes are both being discontinued. The Saskatoon-Edmonton route is the only Greyhound route through North Battleford.
According to a statement from Greyhound the routes are being dropped in response to a 41 per cent decline in ridership since 2010.
“This decision is regrettable and is due to a challenging transportation environment that is characterized by declining ridership in rural communities, increased competition from subsidized national and inter-regional passenger transportation services, the new entry of ultra-low-cost carriers, regulatory constraints and increased car travel,” the company stated in a news release.
The company also stated that despite a number of cost reduction steps the downward trajectory continued.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce these service impacts for the end of October,” said Stuart Kendrick, senior vice-president, Greyhound Canada in a statement. “We understand that these route changes are difficult for our customers. Despite best efforts over several years, ridership has dropped nearly 41 per cent across the country since 2010 within a changing and increasingly challenging transportation environment. Simply put, we can no longer operate unsustainable routes.
“We are committed to keeping customers informed and will continue to provide fair and open communications to ensure that adequate notice is given.”
This is the second year in a row North Battleford has been rocked by news that it is losing a bus line. Last year, North Battleford was impacted by the province-wide closure of Saskatchewan Transportation Company, whose final stop in the city took place May 31, 2017.
