465 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

"And the money kept rolling out in all directions. To the poor, to the weak, to the destitute of all complexions..."

[Victoria Watcher]

Wilson said his company has been shut out of many of the federal and provincial relief programs because of its size and structure, and would no longer be able to cover the cost to operate the routes without help from the province.

____________

 

The company, which has been loath to take on more debt during the pandemic when it has no income, has suggested the North Island service may be only the first of its divisions to shut down without government help.

 

 

 

what about the structure is hurting it?

 

and yes most companies would be loath to take on more debt when it has no income but then what many companies would do is sell or otherwise dispose of or re-purpose the assets on which they are paying interest payments.

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. inter-city bus services and regional airports are getting assistance to maintain or restart services with an injection of cash from the province’s COVID-19 business recovery fund.

 

Bus services and airports can begin applying for a $27 million fund to keep them going until travel restrictions are eased later this year, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said March 9. Bus services have a fund of $10.7 million available to them, and regional airports can apply to a $16.5 million fund to cover operating costs.

 

“Today’s announcement is the life-raft our sector has been looking for,” said John Wilson, president of Wilson’s Transportation, the Victoria-based bus company that picked up some of the inter-city routes that were dropped by Greyhound in 2018.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....n-covid-19-aid/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 March 2021 - 01:03 PM.

[spanky123]

^ The lobbying worked. No debt and $10M in free cash.

Edited by spanky123, 09 March 2021 - 08:49 PM.

[Nparker]

More tax dollars being expended to keep people from working.

[vortoozo]

More tax dollars being expended to keep people from working.

 

How does restarting bus service keep people from working?

[spanky123]

Good grief. We are spending $30M now to widen and improve the Bamfield Rd and today the coroner releases its report stating that the road was wide enough and that lack of seatbelt use was the cause of the deaths back in 2019.

 

https://www.timescol...pass-1.24292648

[spanky123]

How does restarting bus service keep people from working?

 

It doesn't. What the money will do is pay for operators to send empty buses back and forth to help them pay their leasing costs.

[Victoria Watcher]

What the money will do is pay for operators to send empty buses back and forth to help them pay their leasing costs.

 

to be fair most local bus services in north america have been doing the same thing.

[vortoozo]

It doesn't. What the money will do is pay for operators to send empty buses back and forth to help them pay their leasing costs.

 

Empty? Or running at a loss with a lower passenger load but still providing a valuable community service.

There was a significant amount of effort spent not too long ago on this forum advocating for Island-wide public transit.

How is this any different? Except the full cost isn't borne by taxpayers.

[spanky123]

Empty? Or running at a loss with a lower passenger load but still providing a valuable community service.

There was a significant amount of effort spent not too long ago on this forum advocating for Island-wide public transit.

How is this any different? Except the full cost isn't borne by taxpayers.

 

You are right. I should not have said empty. There are a couple of riders but nowhere near needed to even break even on the routes which is why they sit in a yard. The Province will be paying to run those buses regardless of ridership. If it costs $500 a ride then so be it.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

There was a significant amount of effort spent not too long ago on this forum advocating for Island-wide public transit.

 

 

 

that was just one guy.

 

probably paid by the liberal party.  

[Mike K.]

Significant? I just asked we close the small gaps between existing transit systems.

It’s as simple of an infrastructure strategy as one can conceive of to ensure anyone can travel north and south on the this island without disruptions due to private bus service budget constraints.

[Victoria Watcher]

A new bus that will be travelling the Island’s highways in coming months will be shockingly quiet and emission-free.

 

 

The Wilson’s Group announced Wednesday, April 21, that the company has taken its first step in its zero-emissions fleet strategy with a new electric bus pilot project, thanks to a partnership with battery-powered electric bus manufacturer BYD Canada.

 

The Model C8M highway coach makes its debut Thursday, April 22, in time for Earth Day, according to a press release from the Wilson’s Group, parent company of Vancouver Island Connector and Tofino Bus. The release suggested “initial reviews” show an approximate 97-per cent reduction in emissions.

 

The 41-passenger coach, powered by a 313-kilowatt battery, is embarking on a three-month trial and will serve Vancouver Island Connector’s daily route between Nanaimo and Victoria.

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....-nanaimo-route/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 April 2021 - 05:20 PM.

[Nparker]

A new bus that will be travelling the Island’s highways in coming months will be shockingly quiet and emission-free...

And if restrictions aren't lifted, passenger-free as well.

[Victoria Watcher]

greyhound ceasing all canadian operations.  no surprise.  mega-bus already runs the profitable routes.

 

 

 

 

Greyhound Canada is permanently cutting all bus routes across the country, shutting down the intercity bus carrier's operations in Canada after nearly a century of service.

 

The motor coach company said its remaining routes in Ontario and Quebec will cease permanently on Thursday.

 

Its American affiliate, Greyhound Lines, Inc., will continue to operate cross-border routes to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver once the border reopens.

 

 

https://www.ctvnews....tions-1.5426464

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 May 2021 - 09:01 AM.

[vortoozo]

greyhound ceasing all canadian operations.  no surprise.  mega-bus already runs the profitable routes.

 

 

I imagine that some of the Greyhound routes were profitable.

Toronto-Guelph/Kitchener was operated as a commuter service with available monthly passes, and when I lived in that area about 15-20 years ago was well patronized.

GO has added a handful of trains up that way since, but they were local stopping services that took longer than the Greyhound.

Toronto-Ottawa likely did well too.

 

However, with upcoming deregulation in Ontario, they would have faced competition on their profitable routes which would have likely meant they would have been unable to sustain the routes that those subsidized. With union wages, I'm sure they saw the writing on the wall and couldn't make the numbers work on the operation as a whole. 

 

The Ontario bus market is quite unusual. Pre-covid, there were something like 3 operators on Guelph-Owen Sound, but no recent service connecting the two university cities of Guelph and Hamilton.

[Victoria Watcher]

I imagine that some of the Greyhound routes were profitable.

Toronto-Guelph/Kitchener was operated as a commuter service with available monthly passes, and when I lived in that area about 15-20 years ago was well patronized.

GO has added a handful of trains up that way since, but they were local stopping services that took longer than the Greyhound.

Toronto-Ottawa likely did well too.

 

However, with upcoming deregulation in Ontario, they would have faced competition on their profitable routes which would have likely meant they would have been unable to sustain the routes that those subsidized. With union wages, I'm sure they saw the writing on the wall and couldn't make the numbers work on the operation as a whole. 

 

The Ontario bus market is quite unusual. Pre-covid, there were something like 3 operators on Guelph-Owen Sound, but no recent service connecting the two university cities of Guelph and Hamilton.

 

somehow everyone managed for an entire year with no service.

 

Canadian bus companies have plans to fill the gap left by Greyhound

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ittis-1.6026564

 

 

"Rider Express is coming to Ontario and Quebec," says a notice on company's website posted on the same day Greyhound announced it was pulling out.

 

"As a truly Canadian company, Rider Express will be able to connect across Canada with a single bus ticket."

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 May 2021 - 06:46 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A national coast-to-coast ­network of inter-city bus routes could be up and running before the end of this year, says one of the men signed on to make it a reality.

 

https://www.timescol...says-1.24321101

 

 

John Wilson, president of Victoria-based Wilson’s ­Transportation Group and one of the founding members of the Coast to Coast Bus Coalition, said some form of network could be established in the next three to six months if they can tap into federal money to seed the project.

________________

 

“We’re looking for more of a permanent subsidy program for private inter-city operators,” said Wilson, noting funds have been offered to public-transit providers to maintain operations through the pandemic.

 

Most inter-city transport is provided by private operators like Greyhound, said Wilson. With that company now out of the Canadian market, connections between rural and urban communities will be lost, he said.

 

 

 

sounds like wilson has tasted government money with the BC bailout and now he wants it permanently.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 May 2021 - 03:34 AM.

[vortoozo]

 

sounds like wilson has tasted government money with the BC bailout and now he wants it permanently.

 

 

Plus Rider Express, which already serves Vancouver to Winnipeg, has applied to serve Ontario & Quebec in order to offer service across the country.

Why should the government subsidize a coalition of bus companies when a private company has already stepped up?