Bus lines aim to fill Greyhound gap

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2018 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Greyhound Canada announced that it would stop service in Western Canada on Oct. 31, there was a lot of hand-wringing and concern about the public transportation network across the province.

But three months later, with Greyhound about to wind down, the competition is heating up. In fact, it’s getting red-hot.

No fewer than four different operators have announced their intention to get into the intra-provincial bus service, providing regular service from Winnipeg to the North after Oct. 31. One of them, Thompson Bus, is already up and running.

Provincial Highway 6 to Thompson is about to start seeing some much heavier bus traffic.

On Friday, Mahihkan Bus Lines was the latest to enter the market. Mahihkan (Cree for “wolf”) was formerly Kelsey Bus Lines, a charter service that was acquired four years ago by the Aseneskak Casino located in Opaskwayak Cree Nation owned by six First Nations.

Others who have already announced their intention to operate include Maple Bus Lines and Kasper Transportation out of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Elwood Zastre, chief of Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, located north of Swan River, and chair of Aseneskak, said the ongoing need of people in the North — especially those from their own First Nation communities — to get into the city, coupled with the experience of running Kelsey for a few years, led them to apply for the running rights they needed from the Motor Transport Board.

“We have crunched the numbers and did the analysis and we think we have a viable service that is going to happen,” Zastre said.

At first, Mahihkan plans to run daily service between Winnipeg and Thompson, and between Winnipeg and Flin Flon. Zastre said there is still tweaking to be done, but planning is already underway to extend routes, including perhaps Flin Flon to Saskatoon.

The company currently has a couple of Prevost buses, but it is putting the final touches on the lease for a couple of brand new MCI J4550 buses equipped with seatbelts, Wi-Fi and video surveillance.

Suzanne Barbeau-Bracegirdle, CEO of Aseneskak, said, “Safety is our top priority. All our staff has already received COR training (Certificate of Recognition) from the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.”

While Greyhound claimed that its volumes had declined by 41 per cent over the past few years in Western Canada, Zastre said their information is that there was always solid traffic in the Manitoba market.

But it remains to be seen if there is enough traffic to support four competitors.

Maisie Hick, general manager of Maple Bus Lines, said Maple is not paying attention to what the competition is doing.

“It all comes down to relationships,” she said. Hick and her partners acquired Maple, previously run exclusively as a charter service, at the beginning of this year.

Hick, a former Greyhound staffer, said Maple will continue to operate charters. The company has hired other ex-Greyhound people, including experienced mechanics.

Sid Varma, one of the partners of Thompson Bus Lines, said there has been good early demand on its Thompson to Winnipeg route that began operation at the beginning of last week. The company has been running service to Split Lake and Gillam, north of Thompson, for almost two weeks.

“In every competitive environment, it comes down to customer service,” he said. “Whoever is performing better will get the business.”

Officials from Kasper Transportation could not be reached, but the company has been running Facebook ads for its Northern Bus service.

All the pricing is not yet available but it seems clear most of the companies are charging in the range of $130 for a one-way trip on the Winnipeg-Thompson route.

A spokesperson from Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler’s office said, “We are encouraged by private operators who are working to set up business in our province. From the outset, we believed that Greyhound exiting the market would provide an opportunity that is being realized by companies in our province.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca