The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor MLA Clarence Pettersen is disappointed with Greyhound's announcement that it will cut back bus routes in Flin Flon and across northern Manitoba. Starting July 1, Greyhound will cancel its Flin Flon-Snow Lake-Thompson route and reduce all Flin Flon-Winnipeg and Winnipeg-Flin Flon routes to once a day. 'I'm not happy with that,' said Pettersen. 'We've got to find a more permanent solution for residents of the North.' Travel Busses presently travel between Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Thompson every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They leave Thompson at 6 a.m. and Flin Flon at 8:45 p.m. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the Flin Flon-Thompson route averages 10 passengers per trip. The cuts also mean just one bus will depart Flin Flon for Winnipeg each day, leaving at 8 p.m. The same is true of the route from Winnipeg to Flin Flon, which will also leave once a day at 8 p.m. See 'Gre...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 Currently the bus leaves Flin Flon for Winnipeg daily at 9:15 a.m. as well as at 8 p.m. each day except Monday and Saturday. The bus leaves Winnipeg at 10 a.m. daily as well as at 8 p.m. each day except Saturday and Sunday. Greyhound says the routes being cut are not profitable. Freight services will not be impacted. Between March 2010 and June 2012, the province will have reportedly subsidized Greyhound to the tune of $8.4 in exchange for a promise not to reduce services. Asked why the subsidy arrangement could not be extended, Pettersen said Greyhound wanted 'even more money' and wants to 'pick and choose the routes.' He said the NDP is working to find alternatives to ensure continued bussing, but the province has been unable to make any guarantees. Pettersen said if a solution cannot be found, he would favour the introduction of a government-run bus service like the Saskatchewan Transportation Company. 'I have no problem with that,' he said, adding that he has already mentioned the idea to Premier Greg Selinger and will continue to discuss it with government colleagues. 'We can't be looking to make money, but we as the NDP have to look at what's best for Manitoba.' 'Very important' Pettersen called inter-community bussing 'very important' in his riding, which consists of Flin Flon and other remote communities. Also being cut in northern Manitoba will be the Thompson-Nelson House-Lynn Lake, Cross Lake-Norway House and Split Lake-Gillam routes. Several routes in southern Manitoba, including three between Winnipeg and Brandon, will be eliminated. The province issued a news release last month announcing the forthcoming end of its subsidy with Greyhound. The government said once the agreement ends, new rules will take effect making it easier for private-sector bus lines to enter the provincial market. The rules will also create the opportunity for what the government is calling 'community-led, non-profit delivery of passenger services.' The province said it will consult organizations representing northern, rural, First Nation and M_tis communities to determine their interest in establishing inter-community transportation services on routes where private-sector services might not be available. 'We have committed to making changes so that privately run bus service is more sustainable,' Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said in the release. 'We have also been approached by a number of companies interested in providing service for Manitobans under a new regulatory framework.' Ashton said stakeholder consultations held in 2010 identified regulatory changes as a possible solution to sustaining this type of bus service in Manitoba. The province has always seen the bailouts as temporary until a long-term solution could be developed. Claiming it was losing money, Greyhound threatened to end all passenger services in Manitoba in early October of 2009. It later agreed to negotiate with the province.
