Greyhound’s decision to pull out of the Western provinces has been a shock to many, but others weren’t too surprised.
Norm Fix, who owns the bus depot in Kelowna, appeared on the Early Edition Tuesday morning. He said that he saw the writing on the wall a long time ago.
“It’s a changing time. We used to have ten buses on one schedule on the holidays, but today you can’t get one,” says Fix. “There are kids or young people going on the airlines – you can fly out to Winnipeg for probably less than a Greyhound bus half the time.”
Greyhound says a 41 percent decline in customers since 2010 and an increase in competition led to its exit from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, which will take effect this October.
Fix says it all could have been avoided.
“I get a little upset when I hear these Mayors coming on saying that they should have done something, but they didn’t offer a thing to help – they just offered complaining about how ‘bad’ Greyhound was, and didn’t do the job,” says Fix. “And I feel sad because now I’m going to have to get rid of my bus depot.”
The only route to remain open in Western Canada will be a service between Vancouver and Seattle.