Governments’ 50/50 split buys time for Northern B.C. bus service

The Mayor of Prince George Lyn Hall says it’s great news.

So far, British Columbia has been the only province to take the federal transport minister up on his offer of splitting the funding for bus service on rural routes, which were left abandoned by Greyhound when the company pulled out of service last October.

Marc Garneau has met with the province’s Transportation Minister, Claire Trevena, with regards to the 50/50 plan.

The federal government is waiting for a list to be provided of routes as well as costs, citing that there won’t be any cap on funding being provided during the potential two-year agreement.

Hall, who was recently named to the BC transit board, says the 50/50 split on funding will allow the province to expand its service being provided by BC Bus North for another four to five months.

“What it means for us to be able to do that and expand BC Bus North for another 4-5 months, gives us a chance to take a look into whether or not there’s a private sector bus company out there wanting to provide those services,” Hall told MyPGNow. “There’s a number of communities that aren’t yet serviced and that’s a concern to me.”

Hall adds that he’s surprised B.C. is the only province going after the partnership that the federal government has offered, but states he’s optimistic that more soon will as Greyhound serves Canada coast to coast, and has left numerous rural communities without service.

“We just need to continue to show that there is a need for the service,” said Hall.

As for the current situation, Hall says the search for bus companies to provide service to the abandoned communities is on-going.

“There have been conversations about private sector looking at various routes. While it may not be the entire area, it may just be three or four stops, but we’re to the point now that wherever we can provide this service as a region, the better off we’ll be.”

“It may well be that at some point you have a private sector company coming in and only servicing four, five, or half a dozen routes, and from my perspective that’s okay — it’s a start.”