Editor,
It is with frustration that I write this as I've recently learned that Greyhound has cancelled the morning bus route from Squamish to Vancouver as of Nov. 9.
I have commuted from Squamish to Vancouver for six years as a single occupant in my own car.
In an attempt to lessen my impact on the environment, I decided to commit to trying to make public transit work for me. One of the key reasons I am able to do this is the start up of the Canada Line that takes me from downtown Vancouver up to Children's Hospital in under 10 minutes.
I listed my car for sale and spent the last two weeks taking the Greyhound/Canada Line into work. Despite this adding a small amount of time and hassle to my daily trip into work, I had decided that I could do this. 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.
The 6:30 a.m. Greyhound bus from Squamish to Vancouver has typically had 20 to 25 passengers during the weekdays. By no means is this a full busload, but obviously a significant amount of people are relying on this form of transport.
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.
I urge anyone that has ever taken the Greyhound bus into Vancouver to call and voice their disappointment at the cancellation of this peak hour bus trip into Vancouver.
Sara Hamilton
Squamish
