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If you don’t own a vehicle, or are unable to drive for any reason, it’s time to start doing some thumb calisthenics.
This week came the stunning announcement that Greyhound, with the exception of some international routes in British Columbia, will cease operations in Western Canada as of Oct. 31.
The Saskatchewan routes cancelled were Winnipeg to Saskatoon and Saskatoon to Edmonton.
While both routes are available on Via Rail and by plane, alternatives for bus users are slim to none, especially in Saskatchewan where budget cuts in 2017 saw the annihilation of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company. And STC won’t be resuscitated according to Premier Scott Moe, who says it would take $80 million in subsidies over the next five years to revive the service.
In the wake of STC’s closure there was a brief flurry of interest in private concerns filling the void, but there haven’t been any significant developments in that quarter.
Alberta also has train service and Red Arrow Transportation, an intercity bus service, but Saskatchewan residents, especially in rural areas, have no alternatives.
Greyhound says ridership has dropped 14 per cent since 2010 and the cancelled routes were no longer viable. Included were some routes serving Northern Ontario.
Obviously it’s a business decision. If your company is bleeding money you look for ways to staunch the flow. Unfortunately, as was the case in deep sixing STC, those business decisions can hurt society’s most vulnerable people.
In Manitoba, for example, many northern First Nation people relied on Greyhound for transportation to medical appointments.
The loss of public transit is a step back, but to expect a company to shore up a business model impacted by shrinking ridership is unrealistic.
Perhaps our governments need to adopt the attitude of Cuba. Hitchhiking is huge in that country, and more than that, it is mandated by law that hitchhikers be given a ride.
The law stems from a period after the collapse of the Berlin Wall when oil supplies to Cuba dried up. As a consequence the public transportation system deteriorated and ultimately collapsed.
There are few privately owned vehicles in that country. Owning a private car without a licence from the government only became legal in January 2014. Consequently traffic evolved to the point where only government vehicles were on the road. A system of nationalized hitchhiking was established, with the government vehicles legally required to stop for hitchhikers.
Sounds a bit extreme, but for travellers with no alternatives, we might have to adopt a more liberal stance when it comes to picking up those with their thumbs out.
