Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Greyhound Looks at Route Cuts
Greyhound looks at route cuts in Nelson
Higher fuel and maintenance costs, reduced ridership and “an inflexible provincial regulatory regime” are some of the reasons which lead to a $14.1 million loss last year for the company, which they have called “unsustainable.”
“The routes mentioned in the application were chosen simply because of the ridership on the routes, or perhaps I should say, the lack of ridership on the routes,” said regional manager for Greyhound Canada Grant Odsen. “As you have fewer people on a bus that needs to go further you have a loss position on the route.”
While Odsen couldn’t speak to trends across Canada, he said it is obvious things need to change in BC.
Part of the company’s losses are being attributed to the unregulated competition from government agencies like BC Transit and the introduction of the health connections bus service under contract to Interior Heath.
The Passenger Transportation Board is accepting submissions from the public on the proposed changes, which would result generate yearly operating savings of approximately $6.75 million.
But Odsen said it is hard to know how much impact public input will have on the final decision.
“Certainly the board reviews every letter they get and they have to make a determination on how much weight they give to it given what is said and how much response they get from any particular area,” he said. “It is not something Greyhound has any involvement in other than once the public comment period expires on October 24, then the board provides that information to us. We are given a week to respond to the comments made and to clarify our position on any of the points made.”
Odsen said changes are necessary for service to continue in BC. And while he was unsure of all the possible options for Greyhound, he said if they are unable to recover some losses, the company may have to pull its service completely from the province.
“Ultimately the final option would be ‘I’m sorry we’re no longer able to do business in British Columbia’ and turn our license back in the Passenger Transportation Board,” he said.
“That’s obviously something we don’t want to do, that’s why we’re going through this reduction application process. We would like to continue to do business in British Columbia and there is a need for our service, albeit in a different form than what you currently see operating now.”
The proposed changes to Nelson would see the Greyhound stop in Nelson seven times a week instead of the current 10.
To send a letter to the Passenger Transportation Board email ptboard@gov.bc.ca or fax 250-953-3788. Quote application 305-12 Route D.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Chicago-to-Calgary - Greyhound
Nope ... You either need to go out to Detroit or out to Seattle. I haven't
checked it thoroughly but a connection may be made via Indian Trails at
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan but I am thinking it would require a cab ride
to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.It's mind boggeling to know you have to travel so far to get across the border now. Bad news for the passenger (like my wife who has a fear of flying).
Regarding
Sault Ste. Marie,
Greyhound only went as far as Saint Ignace, Michigan and then according
to October 2001 Russell's Guide, you paid $40 for a 51 mile trip to Sault Ste.
marie, Michigan (plus the border crossing). Going west there was a
company that ran between Duluth, Minnesota and Thunder Bay, Ontario, but
the name escapes me at this time. The next crossing going west would
have been between Fargo, North Dakota and Winnepeg, Manitoba (Jackrabbit
ran this run, and after Jefferson got involved ran it, but for reason
unknown to me dropped everything north of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Triangle Transportation also ran this route but had no Interline
Ticketing agreement).Next border crossing would have been Coutts, Alberta ans Sweetgrass, Montana. This has some interesting history and I will return to it.
The next two border crossings would be Spokane, Washington and Creston or Yahk, British Columbia (I think it was Yahk), and Wenatchee, Washington and Osoyoos, British Columbia. Both of these routes were run by Empire Trailways (NOT to be confused with Empire Trailways in New York, no affiliation what-so-ever).
The Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia was run by Greyhound as well as Western Trailways, and later Quick Shuttle added service. During the strike of the 90's Greyhound Lines Canada ran this schedule for a short while.
Regarding
Coutts/Sweetgrass ... Originaly Northland Greyhound ran this route out
of Great Falls, Montana and perhaps to Lethbridge or Calgary, Alberta.
South oot of Great Falla Greyhound had servive to Salt Lake City, Utah.
For reasons I do not know Intermountain Transportation acquired this
route but at the border, there was a change of busses with Greyhound
Lines Canada, no through service. Intermountain went belly-up in the
early 1990's and this was acquired by Rimrock Stages/Trailways. A lot of ridership on the run were people traveling between Canada and las Vegas, neveada. it is my understanding Rimrock and Greyhound Canada canceled this run because of low ridership due to lower fares on the airlines. Rimrock Trailways continues to run south out of Great Falls and Greyhound Canada continues service to Lethbridge, Alberta
If anyone has any further anformation about Intarmountain Transportation Company it may worth a post.
Thanks!
Published by Wyatt Olsen
Monday, December 3, 2012
No one hurt in Greyhound bus mishap — Bangor — Bangor Daily News — BDN MaineSunday, December 2, 2012
........" Bus Driver's Digest "........
December 02, 2012 by Robert Moore
I just learned that our local Casa Grande, Arizona Greyhound stop almost became yet another scheduled stop that would be in the "No Longer Serviced" schedule column. The only thing that saved it
was the owner of the Chevron station on the corner of Arizona State
Route 287 (Pinal Avenue) and Florence Boulevard, who agreed to take on
the local Greyhound bus stop ticketing and baggage handling concession
from its long time former location, whose lease had expired, and was not
able to be renewed due to the sale of the building where the bus stop
had been for nearly 30 years, just one block from the historic Southern
Pacific train depot, built in 1939.
Illegal immigrants broke into the fenced-off train depot, which
had been set aside for a ground-up restoration; they built a fire
inside, which got out of control and spread, collapsed the old roof and
quickly destroyed the entire building. The Art Deco, Santa Fe styled
depot was already on the Register of National Historic Places.
The illegal immigrants were caught fleeing the building shortly after
the fire had spread and completely engulfed the structure. It was a
total loss. The 1939 depot had replaced the original train depot, which
was built in the mid 1800s, when Casa Grande was known as "Terminal",
and the small desert town was the end of the Southern Pacific's line,
hence its name.
Now, the buses stop in Casa Grande twice a day, one each going
east and west, next to the fuel pumps under the Chevron station's
canopy. It's the best we can do at this time. This location is just a
couple of blocks away from the former bus stop site on Sacaton Street,
just off of Main Street, near Florence Boulevard in Old Town Casa
Grande.
It is anyone's guess how long this scheduled stop in Casa Grande will survive. Coolidge, Arizona lost its Greyhound and Trailways stops years ago. Without the Casa Grande location, the nearest Greyhound bus stop is in Tucson to the east, or Mesa, Arizona, to the north, both about an hour's drive away from Casa Grande. Casa Grande is the only
scheduled stop for Greyhound in all of Pinal County. This is pretty sad
in my view, especially with it being 2012. The only other bus service
Greyhound offers near me is the CoachLink bus service that is
directly tied to AMTRAK east-west passenger train service at Maricopa,
Arizona, along the Union Pacific's southern route across Arizona.
AMTRAK does not currently
service the city of Phoenix directly. It once did service Phoenix Union
Station downtown, along with the once-separate Atchison Topeka &
Santa Fe/Burlington Northern Railway (ATSF/BNSF). 
How time has changed everything!
How time has changed everything!
Click on the links below to access the images. The photo is of
the westbound daily afternoon bus stopped at Casa Grande, headed toward
Phoenix from Tucson, El Paso and points east. The bus pulled out just
after I took this photo. The video clip shows the bus pulling out onto
northbound Pinal Avenue. The loud 'noise' in the video is from a junky
old Ford Ranger with no muffler being started near me, as I shot the
video clip of Greyhound 'neoclassic'-painted MCI D4500 #6488's on-time
scheduled departure toward Phoenix. 
-MC-7 Rusty
-MC-7 Rusty
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