Greyhound is applying to the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to eliminate Route D which goes from the Alberta border to Vancouver and includes a stop in Castlegar.
At Castlegar's City Council meeting on Oct. 15, council agreed to send a letter to Greyhound disagreeing with the possible reduction in services.
"What they're trying to do - it's an economic issue for them," said Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff. "You have to realize that for some people the Greyhound is there vital link for transportation. I think it's council's responsibility to do as much as they can to say, 'hey, is there a different way to do this?'. But, ultimately, it's a business decision by Greyhound. It's the bottom line. Why run the route if it's not profitable. They say, 'why would we run a service with three people.' Fuel costs are up, wages are up, everything is up. We still want to intercede as much as we can because, as I said, for some people it's the way they have (to get around)."
The buses potentially eliminated run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. going West and 4:40 a.m. going East on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, said a local Greyhound employee.
Castlegar will still be serviced by Greyhound with a daily 10 a.m. bus going West and a 6:10 p.m. bus going East.
Interested parties may provide written comments on or before Wednesday, Oct. 24 to:
B.C. Passenger Transportation Board
Box 9850 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9T5
or by email: ptboard@gov.bc.ca