I’ve often wondered about that northern health bus and wether or not the riders were indeed travelling around the province for healthcare…..

However…I don’t think that it takes 14 mill out of Greyhound’s pocket. That said…if the demand isn’t there foryour service then you’ll naturally have to make cutbacks or figure out a plan to increase ridership. Obvious I know but what else can they do?

Very interested to see if any councilors will say no to the mayor and her 3 new friends going to China.

I have over the years picked up family riding on the Northern Health bus. Both are seniors and one is not allowed to travel on their own, so either the spouse or someone “responsible” must be with the person whom needs the service in this case. Both are required to pay. They cannot drive the distance on their own.

They require a doctors note etc. to show the driver and if I am not mistaken are to give the driver copies of certain information in order to ride. If they do not have the paperwork – no ride period.

Knowing a few of the drivers for Northern Health I do not think they would be giving free rides….

Some do not like our medical system..

So why does Greyhound not blame the trains or planes etc. or even cabs used from certain areas?

Sounds like the same tactic a grocery chain used a few years ago in the Prince George area before they pulled out.

Totally agree ‘guesswhat’…couldn’t have said it better myself. Greyhound had better do whatever it is they have to do but don’t blame Northern Health. There are also lots of other bus companies in BC that I’m sure impact Greyhound’s bottom line. Too bad. It’s called free enterprise. The union has no business asking our city council to do anything about it. I hope council tells them that too.

There was a story last week about the increase of ridership at YXS. Greyhound doesn’t take that into account? They blame a healthcare bus?

Classy.

Perhaps, they need a mirror to look at before they start blaming.

I haven’t priced bus fare but I do fly to Vancouver. When I can fly for around $4oo return that pretty much eliminates any other mode of travel for me. The added bonus being 3 hrs travel time door to door.

I’ve wondered for a while how Greyhound was doing and now I know.

Northern Health requires information from the doctor in order to travel and they are strict about collecting it. I do wonder, however, why the government doesn’t pay a subsidy to Greyhound for health passengers, rather than pay for the NH buses. Surely everyone could travel on the same bus instead having two partially empty ones?

I do take Greyhound and it is the only means of transport for many small communities. PG is ok because flying is an option but for lots of places it’s Greyhound or hitchike. They have a monopoly over busing in BC and part of having the monopoly on the paying routes in the southern part of the province means they have to offer services here too. Take away their monopoly and let someone else have a go at the runs that are always jam packed (eg. Vancouver to Kamloops) if they don’t want to fulfill their mandate here.

Guesswhat… I agree 100%. I haven’t been on a Greyhound bus in years but another point I’d like to add is I suspect their buses are not designed for some of the special needs that the Northern Health patients require. The Northern Health bus is very accessible and is designed to meet these needs.
Both my parents have been suffering from serious health issues and have used this service to get to Vancouver when I could not take them myself. Like you wrote, one does not get on without the required paperwork. To suggest that ridership is not policed is ridiculous.
I know there are people who have the opinion this bus service is a waste of money. That opinion can change in a heartbeat.

If Greyhound wants to be greedy, let them do it someplace else. Their busses are so stinky, that I know a lot of people who prefer to go by another means of transportation. Besides it takes to long to get anywhere on a bloody Greyhound cause they stop at every gopher X-ing from here to Vancouver.

Northern Health buses are equipped to take a number of people with various disabilities. They have more leg room due to less seats compared to Greyhound. There are various seats that are even more adjustable to allow for riders to have the use of a foot rest just to name a few. The riders of Northern Health are accomodated unlike Greyhound that has standard seating in their coaches.

As for subsidizing Northern Health buses – it is still cheaper in the long run to operate than it is to fly people out of their areas in the north.

I do not believe Greyhound allows walking aids on their bus as Northern Health does. The drivers of Northern Health are very helpful and assist whenever they can. The drivers do a courtesy of removing walking aids to the belly of the buses and when they reach their stop in most cases bring the aids out for the rider.

Greyhound does not go to the hospitals or care homes. Would people rather see the prices of cabs added to get to a Greyhound stop? Greyhound is also on a stricter schedule and may not be able to accomadate the sensitive timing for passengers to board and unboard….

I have not traveled on Greyhound in several years, however, last time we did, the buses were dark, filthy, and dated. There have been security issues over the years. When we need to send our kid somewhere, we fly her, or drive, and never consider the bus as a possibility. Perhaps if Greyhound addressed some of those issues, they could find more riders.
I don’t believe that the Health bus is a major reason that Greyhound is having financial issues, the Greyhound is not suitable for medical transportation.
All that being said, why does it have anything to do with City Council? Our Council needs to get on with more of running the City, and less of everything else, including trips to China.

I suspect that Greyhound is getting things in order, so that they can leave BC altogether.

They not only have competition from other bus lines, they also have competition for their small parcel service.

People in remote areas will be severely impacted if Greyhound leaves. So from thier perspective this is a serious issue.

For people in Prince George, of course it is much less of a problem. Flying to Vancouver,and return, from Prince George for $400.00 is not an optin for a lot of people.

When you live in North Central BC where the population has been static or decreasing for years, and where industry has been in the tank for years, of course there will be a decline in services. Its only a matter of time.

Why do you thing that Air Canada, (and possibly West Jet) use Dash 8’s to service Pr George. Its because we do not have the traffic to continue to use Jets. The Northern Interior (with some exceptions) is a basket case.

Greyhound is asking city council for help running their organization????? That is like the Edmonton Oilers going to the Toronto Maple Leafs for advice on how to win a Stanley Cup again !

“Why do you thing that Air Canada, (and possibly West Jet) use Dash 8’s to service Pr George. Its because we do not have the traffic to continue to use Jets”

I believe there is only one dash 8 flight a day for Air Canada. Westjet is changing from 737s to something else shortly, I understand. Typically they are relatively full.

I was under the impression that we are having a record year for passengers, meaning more than in any year up to this year.

Maybe they are counting the greyhound service to the airport …… :-)

Strange. 80% of their business is freight, that’s why they stop at every place along the way.
Why would the Union be petitioning City Council for anything? Are they going to enact a bylaw forcing people to travel by bus? Maybe City Council want to go to China to find transportation companies there to replace Greyhound. It wasn’t that long ago that we had Prince Coach lines servicing some of our towns.

I don’t know why City Council should be involved with this.

Gus.

The airport handled more passengers this year with less flights, so what we have is a small increase in Airport Improvement Fee’s revenue, and a larger revenue loss because of less flights.

Airport Improvement Fee’s money is restricted and must be used for airport improvements only. Landing and take off fee’s are the bread and butter of airports.

Soooo. Less flights mean less money.

In Saturdays Citizen the President and CEO’ of YSX basically said that reduced flights in and out of Prince George are costing them money.

Have a nice day.