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Greyhound to make major cuts to service in Sudbury

Greyhound is cutting the number of bus trips between Sudbury and major centres beginning Sept. 20, Northern Life has learned. In an email, Greyhound spokesperson Ashley Sears confirmed the cuts, saying they are driven by a decrease in ridership.
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Greyhound is cutting the number of bus trips between Sudbury and major centres beginning Sept. 20, Northern Life has learned, with the number of trips between Sudbury, Winnipeg and Ottawa being cut in half. File photo.
Greyhound is cutting the number of bus trips between Sudbury and major centres beginning Sept. 20, Northern Life has learned.

In an email, Greyhound spokesperson Ashley Sears confirmed the cuts, saying they are driven by a decrease in ridership.

“Our Trans Canada corridor between Sudbury and Winnipeg will see a reduction from 28 trips per week to 14,” Sears said. “Service between Sudbury and Ottawa will also reduce weekly from 28 to 14 (and) service between Sudbury and Toronto will reduce weekly from 30 to 18.”

Among the cuts is the daily 1 a.m bus from Toronto to Sudbury, although the 12:15 p.m. bus will keep operating. Gone, too, is the daytime buses to Ottawa, with the only option remaining being the one that leaves at 12:30 a.m. The daily 1 p.m. bus to Toronto is also being cut.

“Due to a decrease in ridership after the Labour Day weekend, we are implementing a seasonal reduction of our frequency on some routes,” Sears wrote. “However, communities that currently have Greyhound service will continue to have service, and the communities that will be affected will only experience a reduction in weekly frequency.

“Greyhound will continue to monitor our capacity and we will add extra buses as needed during peak periods including weekends and holidays to meet travel demands.”

Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas said Friday that Greyhound's announcement is just the latest downgrade in service for the North, following serious reductions at Ontario Northland, including the elimination of Northland's train service.

"When we opposed the selling off of Ontario Northland, and when we opposed the closure of the train that went all the way to Toronto, it was because people in the North need public transit,” Gélinas said. “We need to be able to go from town to town without owning a car."

The hardest hit by the service cuts will be sick people who need to travel to medical appointments, she said, as well as the elderly and students.

"Those are three populations who, to me, deserve government attention," she said. "People who are sick will continue to have to travel out of town, but it's making it harder and harder on everybody."

In the past, Greyhound has asked – unsuccessfully – for the government money to help it continue to offer service on money-losing routes in Northern and remote parts of Ontario.
Gélinas said it's the sort of investment governments have to make to ensure service to less populated areas.

"To think that routes in the North will ever be profitable is ludicrous,” she said. “It's not going to be profitable for a for-profit company to move us between the little communities in the North. That responsibility lays with the provincial government (to ensure) this option is going to be available."

In an email, Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Ajay Woozageer said Greyhound Canada has notified the province of its intentions.

“Private-sector companies providing intercity bus services, such as Greyhound Canada, make service-related decisions without government involvement or cost to the Ontario taxpayer,” Woozageer wrote.

“As a priority initiative included in the Premier (Kathleen Wynne’s) mandate letter to the Minister, MTO is working with stakeholders to develop recommendations on modernizing and appropriately regulating the intercity bus regime to ensure it remains an attractive and affordable travel option for people across Ontario.”

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Darren MacDonald

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