Council to forward letter of concern on Greyhound to bus line, Transportation Minister

Mayor Brain and Councillor Randhawa
exchanged some thoughts on how to
approach the plan from Greyhound
to end its service to Prince Rupert

At Monday's Council session, Mayor Lee Brain provided a short update on how the City of Prince Rupert is approaching the prospect of the cancellation of bus service to the community by the Greyhound bus line.

Mr. Brain's comments were in response to request from Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa, who asked that the city send a letter of concern to the bus line and the province's transportation minister Claire Trevena.

In his short overview for Council, the Mayor provided a snap shot of the current state of the Greyhound application process, with the topic still be addressed by the provinces Transportation Review Board.

The Mayor noted for Council that he had spoken to Transportation Minister Trevena on the issue and also has a call in to Greyhound to discuss the situation.

He added that no decision has been made and how the request from Greyhound has to go back to the Transportation Review Board to determine if Greyhound is even allowed to end its service, with the Transportation Minister currently working with Greyhound on the topic.

Mr. Brain also observed that it might not even be possible for Greyhound to follow through with their request, adding that the issue is a provincial matter.

"Just so the community knows it might not even be possible for Greyhound to do that, but that's a provincial matter, so in terms of transportation along the highway corridor that will fall into the province's hands and Minister Trevena on top of that"

Mayor Brain noted that the city is monitoring the developments closely, but at this juncture no decisions have been made and until the Transportation Review Board comes back with a decision there won't be any movement on that.

He also advised Council that he could report back once he hears back from Greyhound.

Following up on Councillor Randhawa's request, Council then voted to write a letter of concern to Greyhound and the Transportation Minister on the issue.

While he was directing attention to the responsibility of the province when it comes to transportation along the Highway 16 corridor, the Mayor left one ongoing aspect of the province's response to transportation issues on the corridor off his check list for Council.

Not mentioned as part of the Mayor's response to the issue, was any change to the city's current thinking when it comes to providing a highway shuttle service.

The province led initiative is something that other communities across the Northwest have embraced and introduced over the last year.

However Prince Rupert and the surrounding communities of the North Coast have taken a different approach, instead channelling their attention and resources towards the Transportation program offered through the Transition Society of the North Coast.

While stepping way from the highway shuttle program that has been offered from the province, The Transition Society program relies on existing models of transportation, including the Greyhound service in and out of Prince Rupert.

You can review the Mayor's commentary on the Greyhound situation from the City's Video Archive starting at just after the fourteen minute mark.




For more background on the quest to end its service across Northern BC by Greyhound see our Highway 16 Transportation Archive page here.

More items related  to Monday's City Council session can be found on our Council Timeline feature and Council Archive page.

A wider overview of past discussion topics at Prince Rupert City Council is available from our Council Discussion archive.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review