At least two dozen morning commuters are being forced to find alternate transportation beginning Monday Nov. 9, following a Greyhound announcement that the 6:30 a.m. route from Squamish to Vancouver will be eliminated.
Local rider Sara Hamilton is among those passengers now left with fewer options for getting to their Vancouver-based workplaces.
"I listed my car for sale and spent the last two weeks taking the Greyhound/Canada Line into work," stated Hamilton in a letter to The Chief. "I felt good about selling my car and becoming a single car family, and I also found that taking public transit into work significantly lessened the daily stress of spending two and a half hours driving each day.
"By cancelling this morning route, Greyhound is effectively forcing up to 25 people per day to get back into their cars to commute to work. In addition, many seniors rely on this bus to attend medical appointments in Vancouver."
Morning commuter Claire McDonald also wrote to The Chief with her frustrations.
"The first Greyhound bus going to Vancouver from Squamish is now at 9:05 a.m.," she writes."That leaves a lot of people unable to get to work on time by bus."
Both residents urge locals to speak out against the decision.
A Greyhound Canada media relations officer said the company "is not doing interviews," however a release issued Friday (Oct. 23) stated the company "is encouraged that federal, provincial and territorial ministers of transport have agreed to establish a working group to review and modernize the regulatory framework governing Canada's passenger bus service."
Greyhound Canada has taken a hit from Western Canadian provinces for its recent elimination of numerous intercity routes.
The Dallas-headquartered company announced in early September that it would pull service of Manitoba and northern Ontario this fall, and might end rural bus service across Western Canada unless it received government assistance.
Provincial and federal officials agreed at a meeting in Vancouver to develop a plan to preserve intercity bus service, but there was no consensus on subsidies for Greyhound, according to a Reuters report.
The company contends that a review, which is expected to take several months, is needed to "properly reform a complex set of policies and regulatory burdens that were established some 56 years ago."
"Changes are required to reflect the current and future priorities of customers, intercity bus operators and the financial climate," stated the Greyhound release.
In the meantime, the company stated it would meet with provinces to "seek interim solutions with respect to immediate operational and service issues on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis."
