The Maple Leaf Lounge

[Marc]

Yeah, they've already discontinued their Northern Ontario routes. I have a feeling that we might not see Greyhound operate in Canada for much longer, at this rate.

They probably have a lot more competition now that's probably offering better service. Their website is major pain in the arse to try and book trips because you first have to find the trip which can involve searching different days because it's not smart enough to look around the date you give.

And if you ensure the bus is accessible you have to call their office in Calgary and once you've got the accessibly bus, there's no guarantee the lift will work properly or the driver will know how to operate it (seen this first hand).

 

[Owain Taggart]

They probably have a lot more competition now that's probably offering better service.

Not necessarily. In some cases, it's no service at all. We've been relying on Greyhound for transportation for decades because of their reach and experience, to the point that there was no cause to really think of alternatives which is why it's such a shock, because now many communities are reeling from this and scrambling to find alternatives, especially when it's been done on such short notice. I've noticed that when they announced they'd cease service to Northern Ontario, it was done in the same sudden manner. In our case, Ontario Northland was able to secure part of the route, but it's still not perfect as some routes are still not serviced.

 

[Marc]

Ontario Northland was able to secure part of the route, but it's still not perfect as some routes are still not serviced.

no interest from another bus company or does Greyhound still hold the rights and while not wanting to service they don't want surrender/sell/give-up the the rights?

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm not entirely sure. For all I know, it could be a combination of both. I think another aspect could be they simply don't have the capacity to take on those routes, but at the same time, nobody to take on the slack. And that's just one region in Canada, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking many formerly serviced areas are going to be stuck in a similar conundrum following Greyhound pulling out.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Here's another interesting article about Greyhound:
https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/...leaves-few-options-in-some-rural-areas-980127

 

[Marc]

Here's another interesting article about Greyhound:
https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/...leaves-few-options-in-some-rural-areas-980127

hmm maybe the province could spent some money on transport for the northern areas but that might get in the way of more fucking subways for Toronto.

 

[Timewalker]

There's an article on CBC.ca that says some vague stuff about Saskatchewan and BC, but nothing for Alberta.

Apparently everyone in Alberta drives.

 

[Owain Taggart]

hmm maybe the province could spent some money on transport for the northern areas but that might get in the way of more fucking subways for Toronto.

Maybe, but at this point, it's less of an Ontario specific issue due to Greyhound pulling out of providing service to other provinces, and with the spotlight on this happening now, maybe the government can see that there is indeed an issue. If they wait further for Greyhound to pull out of other provinces, and it's only a matter of time, Canada will be in a bit of a pickle in terms of transportation.

 

[Avro Arrow]

no interest from another bus company or does Greyhound still hold the rights and while not wanting to service they don't want surrender/sell/give-up the the rights?

Here's an article on CBC about other companies looking at trying to fill the void.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-canada-bus-follow-1.4740974

There's an article on CBC.ca that says some vague stuff about Saskatchewan and BC, but nothing for Alberta.

Apparently everyone in Alberta drives.

You had mentioned Red Arrow in an earlier post, and I think it was mentioned too in an article I had read. My understanding is that they only operate in Alberta? Maybe Alberta wasn't mentioned because they already have an alternative, whereas many of the other regions don't?

(Note that I don't know what Red Arrow's coverage is, so I'm not really sure how *good* of an alternative they are.)

 

[Timewalker]

Here's an article on CBC about other companies looking at trying to fill the void.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-canada-bus-follow-1.4740974



You had mentioned Red Arrow in an earlier post, and I think it was mentioned too in an article I had read. My understanding is that they only operate in Alberta? Maybe Alberta wasn't mentioned because they already have an alternative, whereas many of the other regions don't?

(Note that I don't know what Red Arrow's coverage is, so I'm not really sure how *good* of an alternative they are.)

Red Arrow is more expensive than Greyhound, and they don't have a proper depot here. That's why I never used it, so I don't know what it's like to ride one of their buses.

One of the comments below the article on the news site speaks favorably of it, but my understanding is that it's more of a major-city service going between Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton. No idea if there's service to the towns along the QEII, south to Lethbridge, or other places like Sundre, Rocky Mountain House, Grande Prairie, or Fort McMurray.

 

[Marc]

Here's an article on CBC about other companies looking at trying to fill the void.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-canada-bus-follow-1.4740974

yeah read that yesterday.

The Star has a piece today on how dergulation has pretty much killed the bus service between prices being driven down and that once companies got the licence for a route, they could operate it as few times as they liked.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/sta...ation-killed-bus-service-west-of-sudbury.html

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, I think transportation-wise, the country is in a rough spot. It'd be easy to say, well, use something else, but seeing as train service has also been reduced, it doesn't leave one with very many options. I'm glad to see interest with other companies in wanting to pick up the void. Hopefully something similar can be done as an alliance of sorts for the rest of the country and get those routes back up and running. We need to have something dependable.

Ontario Northland currently has a route that goes east of Sudbury and towards Montreal, I believe. They didn't go west because that was Greyhound's route, but maybe now that it's available they can offer that route. Greyhound I feel is an odd company. We've had a bus terminal here for decades, but it was quite an eyesore and they never spent much money renovating it. All the times I've ridden and pulled into the terminal, I'd always hear comments about how much of a dump it was. That was before Ontario Northland had begun establishing its bus routes and built its own terminal elsewhere on the edge of the city, a much nicer bigger terminal that now ironically Greyhound had started using with their diminished routes. Ontario Northland, I feel is much better off and has a terminal here much more suitable for welcoming people into the city, so maybe there's some hope here that they can pick up some of those Greyhound routes with minimal interruption. The infrastructure's already there waiting for it.

 

[Marc]

Greyhound I feel is an odd company. We've had a bus terminal here for decades, but it was quite an eyesore and they never spent much money renovating it

Seems to be a common failing. I've used the greyhound terminal here, in Belleville and Toronto and two of none of them were much chop (though the one in Toronto is used by all the bus companies but it's still a very uninviting place).

A few years back I had to travel for work using Greyhound which meant leaving at 4 in the morning. It was January and bloody freezing and nowhere to wait but in the cold.

 

[Avro Arrow]

my understanding is that it's more of a major-city service going between Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton. No idea if there's service to the towns along the QEII, south to Lethbridge, or other places like Sundre, Rocky Mountain House, Grande Prairie, or Fort McMurray.

I took a peek at their website just to see, and it looks like you're correct that they are mainly for Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton. But they apparently also run between Edmonton and Cold Lake, Edmonton and Fort McMurray, and Calgary and Lethbridge, although the last two routes are marked "by reservation only". (And they also do seem to stop at a number of towns between the end points in each case.)

 

[Timewalker]

Well, it's Red Deer-Calgary I'm mainly concerned about, for myself. But there are an awful lot of people who have medical appointments to keep in Calgary and Edmonton, and it's been infuriating to read the comments for the CBC article tonight.

It's like the Canada Post thing with the community mailboxes... people who have no disabilities and who can drive just don't understand how critical these things are to people who aren't able-bodied and/or who can't drive.

There are numerous comments and nasty swipes at people "who choose to live in remote locations"... they should just move, or take the train or fly... It's not like the train is something we can count on anymore out here. Red Deer lost train service decades ago, when the tracks were relocated out of town, so of course that put an end to any passenger service here. There's always ballyhoo about high-speed train service between Edmonton and Calgary, but that does diddly-squat for Red Deer. As for airports, anyone wanting to seriously fly anywhere here has to go either to Edmonton or Calgary.

Not that I want to fly anywhere, but other people do.

This situation just has me really angry. I've already been in the situation where my dad was in a nursing home in a town north of here and I couldn't visit him because Greyhound service was a once a day thing there. So I could get there, but wouldn't be able to get back until the next day. And there was one idiot on CBC who was saying yesterday, "Why not just run a bus once a week?"

Like people are supposed to find a motel/hotel for 6 days before they can go home again? It'd be cheaper to hire a taxi. I don't know what the current rate is for a taxi ride from here to Calgary, but years ago it was over $100.

 

[Owain Taggart]

There's always ballyhoo about high-speed train service between Edmonton and Calgary, but that does diddly-squat for Red Deer. As for airports, anyone wanting to seriously fly anywhere here has to go either to Edmonton or Calgary.

Overall, I find transportation in this country kind of sad. Where Europe is enjoying high-speed rail, we seem to be taking several steps back to the point of dismantling lines and rails themselves as if we've completely given up on it. Now with Greyhound reducing bus service, hopefully it's at least highlighting the issue of transportation deficit. To quote the Arrogant Worms, 'Canada's really big'. We simply have a lot of territory to cover and we could learn a thing or two in terms of being efficient.

And on the issue of flight, it's not as if flying is as affordable as it should be for most people in Canada, not to mention all those indirect flights that seem to be so common. The funny thing is, I could have sworn I'd been on a flight once before, but my Mom had told me I'd never been on one.

 

[Timewalker]

I've been on a plane once... during my high school years I stayed the weekend at a friend's place. A friend of their family had a small plane and offered to take my friend, her brother, and me for a ride. We flew over a bunch of small towns in Central Alberta, and it was fun.

But I've never been in a plane since. I don't plan to, either.

Go back a few decades, and it used to be possible to take the train from here to Edmonton or Calgary, and then out to Vancouver. I remember being fascinated with the trains going through the Rocky Mountains ever since I first saw them, at age 4. I've always wanted to take that trip through the mountains.

Well, if I were ever to win the lottery I could. It's priced far out of reach for most people.

 

[Avro Arrow]

The funny thing is, I could have sworn I'd been on a flight once before, but my Mom had told me I'd never been on one.

I've been on a plane once

I've flown a grand total of twice. (Well, they were round-trip, so maybe technically four times?) But neither time did I have to pay for it myself. Airfare around here is ridiculous, and well out of my budget. (Well, as is travel just in general.)

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's amazing just how much we rely on a service and how discontinuing can affect hundreds if not thousands of businesses. In the case of Greyhound, it's also their package delivery service and the increased demand to other services such as FedEx and Purolator in the wake of the void created by Greyhound.

https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/...gap-as-greyhound-leaves-western-canada-984918

 

[Marc]

It's amazing just how much we rely on a service and how discontinuing can affect hundreds if not thousands of businesses. In the case of Greyhound, it's also their package delivery service and the increased demand to other services such as FedEx and Purolator in the wake of the void created by Greyhound.

https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/...gap-as-greyhound-leaves-western-canada-984918

From what I read the other day, one of the advantage for some of the small businesses using Greyhound for freight was it worked when the destination was on the bus route so the deliveries were quicker than say purolator where the package has to get to the depot location before being further dispatched.