The Mayor of West Kelowna says Greyhound's decision to stop service was a shocker.
Doug Findlater says he'd been more optimistic after meeting with a Greyhound VP last year.
"I said 'are we affected, what's going on?' There was some talk that we might be. He actually said that in the case of Westbank/West Kelowna, we were actually getting a slight increase in service, because of the rerouting that would come out of that, we'd see a little more frequency. That's the last I'd heard - this has come as a complete surprise," he said.
BC Transit began operating coach bus service in the Cariboo region, after Greyhound stopped operating there earlier this year.
The province says it isn't ruling out a BC-wide version of that in the future.
Findlater says part of the surprise of Monday's announcement was the limited time frame they've got to work with.
"Very concerned about the impact on people who rely on it. Listening to some of the people in the Kootenays talking about how they get over to Kelowna for medical appointments - what are they going to do? Three months notice, very curious it's only three months notice. At the very least in order to sort this out, I believe that we should be, and all should be, including the province and the feds, pushing for an extension of up to a year," he said.
He says there's got to be a better way of doing things.
"I think the whole idea of an integrated transit system needs a look. There is public money that's going into the system - could it be used more efficiently so it benefits all? Before I think we see a way forward, I think we need to be petitioning them not to close the doors on October 31. We need more time - governments at all levels need more time - to sort this out."
Findlater says another big loss will be the cargo delivery service Greyhound also provided on its routes.
BC Transportation Minister Claire Trevena agreed that the federal government needs to be involved, but hadn't heard from them as of Tuesday.