Local bus riders left out in the cold since the cancellation of passenger service may soon have a new transportation option.
Red Arrow in Edmonton started a company called Albertabus.com, an inter-line partnership of bus service providers. Red Arrow is looking into a partnership with area bus companies to offer service that would reach St. Paul, Bonnyville and Cold Lake, confirmed general manager John Stepovy.
“At this point we don’t have anyone in the St. Paul region, but it’s certainly being looked at,” he said. Albertabus.com expects to announce passenger service for St. Paul and other larger centres in the region within a few months, but is still working out the details of a deal with a company.
“We’re pretty confident … that there will be some kind of service within the next few months.”
While some markets can’t justify a full 50-passenger coach, a sprinter van could be quite successful, he said. “There’s definitely people travelling. There’s definitely people that have been hurt by some of the cuts in ground transportation. We believe there’s opportunities.”
The company partners with entrepreneurs, school bus operators and charter operators. The company operates with Brewster from Banff to Calgary and Traxx from Calgary to Medicine Hat. A is line starting this month from Edmonton to Grande Prairie.
The loss of passenger bus service has hurt the local community, said Toni May, co-owner of Maytag Laundry 2010 where the bus depot in St. Paul is located. A bus company would do well with three days a week service, she said, noting she is asked everyday about passenger service.
The local business has fared well since the end of Greyhound’s passenger service, according to co-owner Brenda Poitras, adding that people have to travel to Vegreville, Mannville or Vermilion to board a bus.
Customers are still happy with the freight service and most understand why Greyhound cancelled passenger service, she added.
For local teacher Connie Landsiedel, the cancellation of passenger service has meant fewer visits from her mother, 81, who lives in Canmore. Her mother used to board the bus in the morning and arrive by evening in St. Paul several times a year to visit her daughter, but now Connie has to pick up her mother in Edmonton, which can be a challenge.
“It was a lot more convenient when it dropped her off right here in town,” says Landsiedel. She said she won’t support Greyhound any more and has written the head office to lodge a complaint.
To drop from seven days a week passenger service to nothing is “absolutely ridiculous,” she said. She added she feels the rural areas have been abandoned and that she’s heard many similar complaints from seniors who can’t get to medical appointments in Edmonton or who have to rely on family members.
“I would really like to see somebody else step up.”
