EFFECTIVE 13 May, 2021, Greyhound made the difficult decision to close all its services in Canada, following ‘sustained ridership declines in Ontario and Quebec’, the company announced recently.
With media reports the move will cost about 400 employees their jobs, the company says Greyhound Lines, Inc. (USA) will continue to operate cross-border express services on the following routes when the border reopens: Toronto to New York – Toronto to Buffalo – Montreal to New York – Montreal to Boston – Vancouver to Seattle.
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (USA) is a separate entity from Greyhound Canada, it should be noted, and this announcement has no impact on Greyhound Lines’ operations within the United States, Greyhound Canada confirms.
“We deeply regret the impact this has on our staff and our customers, as well as the communities we have had the privilege of serving for many years,” a statement on its https://news.greyhound.ca/ website from Greyhound Canada senior vice president Stuart Kendrick stated.
It continued: “A full year without revenue has unfortunately made it impossible to continue operations.”
“Thank you to our dedicated staff for their commitment and service, and to our customers for choosing Greyhound Canada during better times.”
As Kendrick explains Greyhound Canada remains, “…committed to honouring its labour agreements with employees and funding the commitments to our pension plan participants.”
DECISION RATIONALE
Greyhound Canada implemented a range of cost-reduction steps during recent years, including frequency adjustments to route schedules and other efficiency measures, it states.
In 2018, after years of declining ridership and the impact of a changing and increasingly challenging transportation environment, including de-regulation and subsidised competition – such as VIA Rail and publicly owned bus systems – the difficult decision was made to suspend service in the western part of Canada. Services continued in Ontario and Quebec, it says.
The pandemic, and required travel restrictions to ‘help keep Canadians safe’, brought a further dramatic drop of approximately 95 per cent of normal volumes before operations were fully suspended in May, 2020, the bus operator confirms.
“Our service is reliant on the farebox; we are not able to sustain operations with a significant reduction in ridership and the corresponding revenue loss,” its statement read.
Greyhound Canada has made significant outreach efforts to provincial and federal governments for financial support for the industry, it adds. Financial investments from governments for Canada’s inter-city bus sector have been negligible, it stated. Operations are not feasible absent of financial support, it confirms.
TICKET REFUNDS
Customers holding tickets originating in Ontario or Quebec for travel within Canada after May 13, 2021, may request a refund. Also customers with non-expired Canadian travel vouchers may request a refund of unused travel voucher funds, Greyhound Canada states.
Photography: Alamy