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Province scrambles to keep buses going

Smaller coach lines may bid to take over Greyhound routes

By: Mary Agnes Welch

Posted: 10/24/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A Greyhound logo at the newly opened Greyhound Terminal at the James Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg Thursday, September 3, 2009. Greyhound Canada, long the mass transit lifeline to rural areas, announced Thursday it needs $15 million in public money and an end to regulatory red tape on money-losing routes or it will shut down, starting this fall in Manitoba and northern Ontario. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ (JOHN WOODS / CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

With only a week until Greyhound abandons Manitoba, at least two companies are preparing bids to take over its bus routes and the province's transportation minister is looking for a stopgap to delay Greyhound's departure.

At least two smaller, regional coach lines -- Caribou in Northwestern Ontario and Boutin in southern Manitoba -- are looking at bidding for Greyhound's routes should the national carrier pick up stakes Nov. 2.

"We're proceeding with due diligence on this, trying to make sure we have all the information we need," said Sandy Smith, owner and general manager of Thunder Bay's Caribou Coach Transportation.

"The timeline is getting kind of tight."

Smith is waiting for some information from Greyhound on passenger counts and costs, information that will help him decide whether it's viable to expand into eastern Manitoba, the whole province or not at all.

The company would need an operating licence from both Ontario and Manitoba, which is willing to expedite the process, but the timeline is almost impossibly tight.

Boutin Bus Lines owner Gerry Boutin, who contracts with Greyhound to provide bus service to Pine Falls, Sprague and cottage country, is hoping to have a business plan ready to submit to the province in two weeks.

He needs at least another 16 buses, plus a ticketing computer system, which means the province may have to chip in $8 million to start.

Within three years, Boutin thinks he could wean the company off provincial subsidies.

He's looking at creating a downtown bus depot, perhaps at the Via Rail station, and he hopes his plan will include more frequent service to some towns. He's already begun to line up staff and source buses.

"Those buses are available at a moment's notice," said Boutin. "Whatever Greyhound is not willing to do, we are willing to look at it."

Earlier this week, Manitoba Transportation Minister Ron Lemieux met with his counterparts from the other provinces in Vancouver and asked all the deputy transportation ministers to report back as soon as possible on a national plan to save Greyhound.

But most Canadian premiers aren't keen on subsidizing Greyhound, mostly because other provinces have established carriers who can pick up Grehound's slack.

Manitoba doesn't, but the province can't subsidize a national bus service on its own, which leaves the provincial government in a pickle.

Manitoba could help cover the cost of money-losing in-province routes, but a deal like that could take more than a week to settle.

During a stop in Brandon Friday, Premier Greg Selinger said senior provincial officials could meet with Greyhound as early as Monday.

"Obviously, they've put a pretty tough deadline on that issue," he said. "We would like to find a short-term solution that would keep service going while we look for a long-term solution."

Greyhound has stopped selling tickets for trips after Nov. 1.

"I don't want any disruptions in Manitoba whatsoever," said Lemieux. "It may take an investment from us."

But Lemieux suggested Ottawa ought to get involved. Greyhound transports goods to First Nations and many patients to Winnipeg. Eliminating the bus service would likely cost Ottawa more in flights and freight costs.

Greyhound estimates that it is losing $15 million a year with about $4 million a year of that from Manitoba. The company is willing to shoulder some of that shortfall, but the province may have to pitch in, too.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 24, 2009 A8

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