MP Taylor Bachrach, NDP disappointed at Federal report on National Bus Transportation planning

A Report for the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities has come up significantly short for Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrarch, who has shared more than a few thoughts on his concerns towards the document.

The Report called: Improving Bus Connectivity in Canada was launched in part at the urging of the Northwest Member of Parliament, who had taken the issues of poor transportation options for his constituents to the House of Commons.

Over four days of hearings, the committee heard from witnesses including academics, municipalities, bus service operators, and advocacy groups. 

Many of the participants provided their accounts of the challenges of linking Canadians following the end of Greyhound national service in recent years.

In a statement from Tuesday, Bachrach notes that despite strong
testimony describing how Canada’s inter-regional bus service is failing to serve Canadians and the importance of federal leadership, the recommendations from the majority of MPs on the committee fell far short of what is needed to connect Canadians. 

 "There is an alarming disconnect between the experts' strong call for action and the lacklustre recommendations in the report. Where Greyhound once provided a coast-to-coast bus service, we now see a fragmented patchwork, with serious consequences for low-income Canadians, Indigenous people, seniors and marginalized populations." 

The Committee Report, which you can review here, delivered Seven Recommendations.

Those seven elements however, do not meet the larger ambitions for the NDP, which attached their own dissenting report to the document, found as part of the last five pages of the Committee document noted above.

The main call for the NDP, that of the creation of a Public, Nationwide Bus network.

Towards that goal, Bachrach is calling on federal Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra to demonstrate leadership in re-establishing nation-wide bus service. 

"While the Minister abdicates responsibility and points fingers at the provinces, Canadians are faced with fewer affordable inter-regional transport options than ever before. I had hoped the committee's report would reflect the urgency of the situation, but unfortunately it seems the other parties are content with half-measures.

As we heard during this study, safe, reliable bus service is essential to Canadians, especially those in marginalized communities,. It helps people access jobs, education, and health services, not to mention providing the ability to escape domestic violence and avoid unsafe modes of transportation, like hitchhiking. 

Bus service is not a luxury, it’s a public necessity and a step forward in reconciliation. Canadians can’t afford to have the federal government drag its feet on this issue.” 

The Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP also made note of  the BC government's recent renewal of funding for regional and community to community bus service in northwest BC.  

As we outlined earlier this week,  the announcement from the BC Government has allocated another 5 million dollars towards the BC North Bus and community shuttle programs along the Highway 16 corridor and throughout Northern BC.

 "Thanks to the provincial government's investments in public bus service, our region is better served than most other parts of rural Canada. However, service is still not at the levels Greyhound once provided, and connections to other regions of the country are virtually non-existent. There is a lot of work to do, and the federal government has a central role to play." 

You can review more on the local themes of transportation along the Highway 16 Corridor from our archive page here.

More items of interest from the House of Commons can be explored here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.