Caribou takes over bus service

With Greyhound bus service from Fort Frances to Thunder Bay scheduled to discontinue on Aug. 20, Caribou Coach of Thunder Bay will take on the route, since no local operators were willing to take on the service.
As of yesterday, Caribou Coach officially received approval from the Ontario Highway Transport Board to offer scheduled bus services to the residents along Highway 11 between Fort Frances, Atikokan and Thunder Bay.
Greyhound Canada Transportation announced earlier in March that it planned to end the services between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay effective August 20, 2008.
The possibility that Caribou Coach extends its service to Rainy River is still a consideration of the bus line, but its economic viability is still a factor that the transport company has to evaluate.
“We [Caribou Coach] have never been opposed to, or suggested that we would not consider services through to Rainy River, but there is more to it then simply extending service . . . we have to take into account other carriers who have permits to operate out of Fort Frances,” said Sandy Smith, president and owner of Caribou Coach.
“As for offering the route through to Winnipeg . . . we again encounter the issue of existing carriers, as well as new and upcoming requirements for crossing into the U.S.A. by land starting in 2009,” added Smith. “Are we prepared to look at these concerns though? Absolutely.”
Caribou Coach plans to unveil its schedule and passenger fares over the next several weeks, with regular updates available on its website at www.cariboucoach.ca
As reported above, no local operators were willing to take on the service.
“There were four or five [operators] on the conference call, but at the end of the day, when they all investigated it, they couldn’t see themselves doing it,” indicated Geoff Gillon of Rainy River Future Development Corp. who had been involved in locating a local solution to the loss of bus service.
Last month, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton came forward, suggesting to municipal representatives that the best solution would be to find a local operator who would be interested in taking on the route, instead of having a company from Thunder Bay supply the service.
With Caribou Coach planning only to run the bus service between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay—meaning there will be no service west of Fort Frances—Hampton believed there was an opportunity to restore the bus service between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.
When several local operators showed interest in looking into the possibility, many of the area municipal representatives got together to make plans to oppose the application submitted by Caribou Coach.
“But we decided not to contest the one [service] we have and blow having a route to Thunder Bay,” Gillon explained. “It just didn’t make any sense if no one else was willing to step up.”
He noted due to the high gas prices and relatively low ridership on the bus routes between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, the local operators found it wasn’t economically feasible. There were also challenges with carrying freight and restrictions about picking up passengers in Manitoba and Minnesota.
In addition, applications would have needed to be made to the Manitoba Motor Transport Board and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for the service to Winnipeg through Minnesota.
“It’s certainly a big risk,” Hampton admitted, citing there is the cost of a bus, insurance, maintenance, tickets sellers, and drivers to consider.
But even though they are currently letting go of the idea of a local operator running a bus service from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, Gillon said it doesn’t mean they are going to drop it.
“We do think there needs to be some sort of creative solution,” he said. “There’s got to be a way to get people to Winnipeg if we’re creative.”
He thought some of the local operators may be interested in doing something on a smaller scale—perhaps a more specific and specialized service.
Gord Armstrong, a Rainy River councilor, echoed a similar sentiment regarding the transportation issue as Gillon.
“We’re still trying to work on it, and we approached some people who were interested in having a service, but nobody could put their dollars and cents together soon enough to meet the deadline,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong explained that he has no objection to the Thunder Bay company, Caribou Coach, running the service but noted that it only serves half the district.
“The rest of us have a problem that we’re trying to solve. We’re not trying to undermine them [Caribou Coach], we’re trying to solve our own problem,” he said.
Councilors are planning to write letters and go on record with the government explaining that the solution that has been provided isn’t sufficient.