With news last week that Greyhound has applied for a schedule change that would see service between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay discontinued, district residents aren’t going to take the proposed cut lying down.
In the face of the proposed route cancellation, a group of concerned citizens is circulating a petition “to stop the discontinuation of this vital service,” as the loss of service will affect many individuals, such as students, the elderly, the handicapped, and people seeking medical care in Thunder Bay.
Bobbi Pitkanen, one of the concerned citizens circulating the petition, said Monday it is being very well-received.
“There’s a lot of people that seemed to be concerned,” she remarked. “There’s a lot of people that use the bus for medical reasons that don’t drive and don’t have a way to get to Thunder Bay.
“They really rely on it.”
This petition is posted at many businesses around town, and they’re also being carried around by individuals who are getting people to sign them.
“There are actually people out there, when you mention it to them, who say, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter to me, because it doesn’t affect me,’” noted Pitkanen.
“[Well], It may not affect them now, but what about in the future when they’ve aged and their family has moved away and they can’t drive, and they do need to get to Thunder Bay or somewhere further away for medical purposes or just to get somewhere?”
Pitkanen said she’d heard a story about a girl in Atikokan who broke down and cried when she heard from the bus driver about the route cancellation.
She goes to Thunder Bay every month for medical treatments and is afraid she’ll have no way to get there without the bus.
“Lots of people will be affected,” stressed Pitkanen.
Fort Frances Mayor Roy Avis said the proposed cancellation would serve to further isolate the community.
“In a town our size, it would be another nail in the coffin,” he remarked. “When you start losing services in small communities in Northwestern Ontario, it’s one less way people can move around, especially the elderly and students.
“We have to look at the fact Thunder Bay is becoming a major hub for the medical area in Northwestern Ontario,” the mayor added. “I think a lot of people rely on that bus to go there, or probably in the future will be.
“There will be hardship for those local residents,” he warned.
Mayor Avis said senior government “has to get involved” in this issue, and he will be bringing it to town council at its next regular meeting April 14.
Emily Watson, president of the Rainy River District Municipal Association, said the board had a meeting Thursday night to discuss the issue, which the RRDMA is going to bring to the floor at the next Northern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) meeting in Thunder Bay on April 16-18.
Watson she said the news took district representatives by surprise.
“For the most part, people had not even heard about it. I just heard abut it [Thursday],” Watson said. “Debbie Ewald, who is the mayor of Rainy River, brought some information about it.
“She brought the notice that was posted March 18.
“It came as a real shock,” Watson added. “People were upset about it because we have a regional hospital in Thunder Bay, and yet we have in this district no access to that if our bus is gone.”
While some groups like the Canadian Cancer Society do have volunteer drivers to take people to Thunder Bay, Watson noted that if you’re going down there for any other kind of medical appointment, you may be out of luck.
“It’s another one of those things where we’re going to be cut off,” she warned. “People were saying [Thursday] night that maybe because we’re becoming so isolated in this district that we should be now considered for the northern residents [tax] deduction.”
Watson also said news of the proposed cancellation is not a good economic indicator for this area.
She noted the whole time Greyhound (formerly known as Grey Goose) has been operating in the area, it has had a monopoly and no one else was able to operate a bus on the same route.
“Now we have to lose them to be able to allow someone else [operate a run],” Watson explained, adding she’s heard Eldon Mose of Asselin Transportation has expressed interested in perhaps organizing a bus run to Thunder Bay.
In the meantime, Ewald and Rainy River council has been working to organize a shuttle from Rainy River to Fort Frances so west-end residents can take the bus from here to Thunder Bay.
“Now, all of the sudden, there’s no more bus to Thunder Bay and they’re feeling like their hard work has been in vain, as well,” noted Watson.
“We’re hopeful something can be worked out, but it has to wait until [Greyhound] is finished,” she continued. “But it’s been downplayed. They certainly haven’t been upfront about this.”
Watson recalled the Greyhound run from Fort Frances to Winnipeg kept going for years thanks to freight it could carry over the border.
When border restrictions forced the cancellation of that route, Excel Bus Lines from Kenora started a shuttle which leaves from Fort Frances and drops off passengers at the bus depot in Kenora to catch the Greyhound into Winnipeg.
But she noted perhaps Greyhound should have altered its Thunder Bay run to save costs before it had to arrive at this point.
“It has always really struck me as strange that they kept this large bus—a coachline—running to Thunder Bay when there might only one or two people. I don’t understand why they didn’t downsize a long time ago,” said Watson.
“I think they should take a lesson from Excel in Kenora. They certainly started downsizing, they have a much smaller bus, and it’s much more economical to operate, I’m sure.”
Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown said he was very surprised by the news of the possible cancellation.
“This is a service that many residents—well, I guess not enough—use,” he said. “But I know some of the seniors use it to go to medical appointments in Thunder Bay—I’ve already got a number of calls on that one.
“They’re going to be devastated if there’s not something left to take over,” he noted Monday, adding the issue would be brought up at that night’s council meeting there.
“I’m sure one of things we’ll be doing is phone the Minister of Transportation and let him know how important it is for Atikokan,” added Mayor Brown. “I guess it’s the same in Fort Frances and elsewhere—a lot of people rely on this service.”
Mayor Brown said he was at least a little relieved to hear Greyhound went about the application procedure incorrectly, and now is required to give the public a 90-day notice of the proposed route cancellation—as compared to the discontinuing service on May 4 as it read on the first public notice.
“That gives us a little more time to work on it,” he remarked.
< *c>Process delayed
As first reported in Friday’s Daily Bulletin, while Greyhound Canada Transportation Corp. was aiming for full discontinuation of service between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay as early as May 4, this can’t happen, if at all, until at least this summer.
Ministry of Transportation (MTO) senior media liaison officer Bob Nichols said Friday the notice to discontinue service was not received by the Minister of Transportation as required by the Public Vehicles Act.
The notice was sent to ministry staff instead.
According to the Public Vehicles Act, Greyhound must give the public and Minister of Transportation’s office 90 days’ notice in order to the cancel the run and this was not done.
The public vehicle operator also is required to provide information to the minister, such as the number of passengers using the service in the preceding six months, other public transportation alternatives available, and proof that the public has been notified by providing a copy of the notice as published in area newspapers and posting in the stopping places along the route.
When the minister receives a notice of service discontinuance, it is immediately reviewed by MTO staff for compliance. If the notice does not reasonably comply with the provisions, the company is notified and asked to revise the notice to bring it into compliance.
In this case, Greyhound has been advised it has not complied with the advance notice and information provisions of the Public Vehicles Act.
Greyhound also was advised that the 90-day notice period will not commence until all statutory requirements have been met and the Minister of Transportation has been notified.
Greyhound spokesperson Peter Hamel said Friday the company is working on meeting the conditions of the Public Vehicles Act.
Hamel stressed Greyhound will continue to operate the Thunder Bay run until such time as either the province allows its abandonment or a new carrier is found.
“It’s unlikely the [minister] would allow anyone to abandon it. We’ll probably have to find another carrier here soon,” he noted, adding, “We have had third-party carriers express interest in it.”
Hamel said Greyhound understands the cancellation of service would have an impact on the community, but noted ridership on the Fort Frances-Thunder Bay route is down almost 20 percent.
“We can’t afford to run it at our operating costs,” he stressed. “So, would we oppose a third-party person applying to it? Absolutely not.
“We just want to open up those avenues.”
The Greyhound bus to Thunder Bay currently runs five days a week. It leaves the local bus depot each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 a.m. and every Friday and Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
There is no bus on Mondays or Saturdays.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
