VICTORIA — British Columbia's transportation minister says she will speak with her western Canadian counterparts on Thursday to discuss Greyhound's plan to end bus service in the region this fall.
Claire Trevena says her staff have convened a meeting where she and other ministers will discuss different approaches the provinces are considering and ways they can work together.
She says her ministry is also talking to all providers of bus services to find out what capacity exists in the province to ensure that people have safe, reliable transportation.
Trevena says many people can't afford to drive a car or buy a train or plane ticket, and they rely on bus service, adding that others choose not to use personal vehicles.
She says she received no advance notice before Greyhound announced Monday it will end all its routes in the West at the end of October, save for one regular trip between Vancouver and Seattle.
The minister says there are private operators who are very nimble and quick, who may be interested in taking over some of the routes Greyhound is cutting.
When Greyhound departed in parts of northern B.C., the province filled in with a publicly funded bus service pilot project, and Trevena says she isn't ruling out Crown-backed bus service across the province.
The federal government has a role to play but has not been involved in discussions so far, she adds.
"There is nothing off the table at the moment," she says. "My priority is to make sure that the people of B.C. can travel safely and affordably around this province."
