Greyhound bus passenger service will cease operating the Edmonton to Cold Lake route effective Oct. 24. Freight service will not be impacted.
The canceling of the service will affect bus passengers from Bonnyville to St. Paul, Elk Point, Smoky Lake, Ashmont, Spedden, Vilna, Glendon, Fort Kent, Ardmore and several other stops.
The route averaged 13 passengers on a 54-seat bus, said Greyhound spokesman Tom Olsen.
A government decision made in July to modernize the bus regulatory system resulted in the change to service, he said. The changes to the regulations allow all carriers to adapt how they conduct business, he said.
Greyhound had been mandated to run certain routes with a level of frequency, which worked 40 years ago, but as demographics changed and fewer people took the bus it stopped working, he said.
“They’ve been losing significant amounts of money for several years. What the government change has done has allowed them to adapt to the market. They need to be able to operate how they see fit,” he said. “Greyhound is very supportive of the government change.”
Greyhound plans to “enhance” the freight service, but specific plans have not been released.
Brenda Poitras, co-owner of Maytag Laundry which is also the Greyhound depot, said passenger service is only a small part of the business. Some weeks, the St. Paul depot would get no passengers, she said.
“I understand the decision behind it because we don’t have that many passengers coming out of here,” she said. “It’s just going to be hard for the people that rely on the bus.”
She said it could open up opportunities for other bus lines.
One locally run company may be packing in after the cancellation takes effect. Elk Point’s Quality Time Tours will discontinue its Elk Point to Edmonton route due to the regulatory changes, said owner Sandy Smith. Smith has contracted with Greyhound for 19 years.
“There won’t be any passenger service in this area at all … I don’t see any possibility of me continuing.”
While Smith plans to consider options, she said the changes could mean parking her business. The costs of running a passenger bus route would prohibit Quality Time Tours from continuing its service.
“It’s impossible to make it on just passengers,” she said, saying freight and passengers would be needed for her to continue running the route. She averaged around seven passengers per trip, down from a high of 26 per ride several years ago.
The cancellation of service will affect shift workers and seniors, she said.
