Greyhound Canada

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Greyhound Canada
Greyhound UK logo.png
250px
Motor Coach Industries 102DL3 in Toronto in October 2014
Parent FirstGroup
Founded 1929
Ceased operation May 13, 2021
Headquarters Burlington, Ontario
Service area Quebec and Ontario
Service type Intercity coach service
Alliance Greyhound Lines
Trailways of New York
Website www.greyhound.ca

Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC was the Canadian affiliate of Greyhound USA, and part of the North American operations of FirstGroup. It ceased operations on May 13, 2021.[1]

Though the company previously operated throughout much of Canada, at time of closure operations were confined to the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, providing services in the main centres such as Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Barrie, London, Hamilton, Kitchener, Windsor, and Niagara Falls.

History

File:Greyhound Canada logo.png
Pre-2009 logo
File:Greyhound Canada bus 1284 to Vancouver.jpg
Motor Coach Industries D series in June 2011

In 1929, Greyhound Canada was founded as Canadian Greyhound Coaches Limited by George Fay and Speed Olson, operating first in Nelson, British Columbia and then Alberta.[2] It was sold to Greyhound USA in 1940. In 1948 it purchased a controlling interest in bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries, taking full ownership in 1956.[3]

In 1992, Gray Coach was purchased from Stagecoach while control of Motor Coach Industries passed to Greyhound USA. In July 1996, Greyhound Air was established operating Boeing 727s.[4] In September 1997 the business was purchased by Laidlaw.[5] The Greyhound Air business was not included and shut down. Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines was purchased in 1998 followed shortly after by Penetang-Midland Coach Lines. In 2007 it was included in the purchase of Laidlaw by FirstGroup.[3][6]

Western Canada service termination

In February 2018, Greyhound Canada received permission to terminate its two remaining routes on Vancouver Island running from Victoria, British Columbia to Nanaimo and Vancouver. Tofino Bus Services subsequently took over these two Greyhound routes.[7][8]

Greyhound Canada terminated service along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia with the last run being on May 30, 2018. Greyhound said it was losing $35,000 per day on routes in Northern British Columbia and in parts of Vancouver Island, and had lost $70 million in the six years prior to 2018[9] At the time, BC Bus North stepped in to provide services between Fort Nelson, Prince Rupert, Prince George, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.[10][11][12]

Greyhound Canada also terminated service from Prince George, British Columbia to Whitehorse, Yukon with the last trip from Whitehorse occurring on May 30, 2018.[13]

From 2014 to 2017, ridership along that part of the route between Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson had dropped from 18,307 to 9,647 passengers.[14]

Greyhound Canada announced on July 9, 2018 that it was cancelling all services west of Sudbury, Ontario. The sole remaining route between Vancouver and Seattle would be operated by Greyhound USA. Greyhound Canada claimed the cancellations were due to declining ridership, which dropped 41% nationwide since 2010 and 8% in Western Canada alone in 2017. The cancellations took effect on October 31, 2018.[15] Greyhound said that the decline in ridership was due to increased car ownership, subsidies to competing passenger carriers, competition from low-cost airlines and regulatory restrictions.[16]

COVID-19 and service termination

On May 6, 2020, Greyhound Canada announced it would shut down all its remaining bus services effective May 13. The reason was a 95 percent drop in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The shutdown would affect 400 employees. Greyhound had already reduced service on March 25 and suspended six routes on April 5.[17]

On May 13, 2021, Greyhound Canada announced an end to intercity bus operations in Canada.[18][19][20] The company plans to sell its bus stations and refund tickets and travel vouchers for travel after May 13.[18]

Routes

Routes listed below are those that were in service prior to the then-temporary suspension of service in May 2020, all of which were permanently terminated in May 2021.

Regular service

At the time of its closure in 2021, Greyhound Canada's scheduled bus services were confined to Ontario and Quebec, although all routes were already suspended on May 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[21]

At the time of its service suspension, Greyhound Canada operated the following routes:[22]

  • Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal
  • Toronto-London-Windsor
  • Sudbury-Ottawa/Toronto
  • Toronto-Kitchener/Guelph/Cambridge
  • Toronto-Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • Ottawa-Kingston

Greyhound Canada also operated a number of services to the United States, but non-stop services to large US cities were provided by its US-based parent company Greyhound Lines.[22] Most routes operated by Greyhound Canada were to border cities, including Buffalo, New York.

For travel into areas not served by Greyhound, passengers could sometimes transfer onto other bus lines which maintained inter-line agreements with Greyhound:

QuickLink

File:Greyhound 1257 Quicklink.JPG
Prevost in QuickLink branding in 2008

Greyhound operated a commuter service in Southern Ontario known as 'QuickLink Commuter Service'.[23] A list of cities served by this service:

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Greyhound Courier Express

File:Greyhound Canada 50352.JPG
Greyhound Courier Express vehicle

Greyhound Courier Express was a courier division of Greyhound Canada. It provided courier and freight service to more than 1,100 destinations across Canada and internationally by bus or air.[citation needed]

Stations

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Main article: List of Greyhound Bus stations

Fleet

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. As at October 2018, Greyhound operated 436 vehicles, but it has an extended fleet through connecting operators:[24]

Product list and details
 Make/Model   Description   Fleet size   Year acquired   Year retired   Notes 
Motor Coach Industries D4505 suburban coach 42 2006 Active Handicapped/disabled access
Motor Coach Industries G4500 suburban coach 65 2002 2014 Handicapped/disabled access
Motor Coach Industries D4500 suburban coach N/A 2001-2002 Active Handicapped/disabled access
Motor Coach Industries 102EL3 suburban coach N/A 2000 2015
Motor Coach Industries 102C3 suburban coach 76 1991 2011
Motor Coach Industries 102D3 suburban coach 20 1994-1996 2015 Handicapped/disabled access
Motor Coach Industries 102DL3 suburban coach 189 1994-2000 Active
Prevost Car H3-45 suburban coach 2 1995 2018 Most retired and sold in 2016
Prevost Car X3-45 suburban coach 17/54 2008/2010-14 Active Handicapped/disabled access 2008 Prevost transferred from Greyhound Lines in Oct.2014. 2014 Prevost transferred from First Canada in Mar.2018.

Handicapped/disabled access denotes wheelchair accessible vehicles

Historic

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Most buses are registered in Alberta and bear the province's license plates. In Ontario, Voyageur buses and some Greyhound buses have Ontario plates.

Older buses sport the old colours of the American parent but with a Canadian flag. Between mid-2000s to early-2010s, certain buses had a white base with large greyhound image on the front and sides with a large light grey wording Greyhound on the sides along with a maple leaf. Since mid-2010s, most buses were painted in the same navy-blue-and-grey livery with the US-based parent company with no additional markings, and thus were virtually indistinguishable from US Greyhound buses.

Transmissions

From the 1985 model year 96A3 to the 1995 model year D4000 and D4500 (102D(L)3), as well as the first Prevost H3-45 coaches, Greyhound Canada specified manual transmissions in all their intercity coaches. At first, five speed Eaton Fuller transmissions were equipped in all 96A3 and 102A3 coaches. Beginning with the 1989 model year 102C3SS coaches, Greyhound Canada specified seven speed manual transmissions.

Allison B500 and B500Rs have been used on coaches equipped with Automatic transmissions until the D4505s which use the ZF-AStronic (automatic standard) transmission.

Unions

Notable incidents and accidents

  • December 23, 2000: An attempted hijacking of a Greyhound Canada bus near Thunder Bay, Ontario left one woman dead and 31 others injured.[25]
  • July 30, 2008: Tim McLean, a passenger on an Edmonton to Winnipeg schedule, was beheaded by another passenger near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The attacker was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder, but later found to be not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.[25][26][27][28] Greyhound Canada withdrew ads with the slogan There's a reason you've never heard of "bus rage" following the event, citing that the campaign was "no longer appropriate".[29]
  • September 21, 2008: A young man was attacked by another passenger on a Greyhound Canada schedule in Northwestern Ontario. Police arrested a 28-year-old man near the town of White River, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Sault Ste. Marie, shortly after the bus driver let him get off at the side of the highway.[30]
  • December 16, 2010: A Toronto Transit Commission 505 Dundas streetcar was heading eastbound at River Street when it crashed into a Greyhound Canada bus after running a red traffic signal. 17 passengers, including 4 schoolchildren, received serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.[31]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Historical Timeline Greyhound Canada
  4. ↑ Greyhound Starts Discount Airline in Canada Business Travel News November 25, 1996
  5. ↑ Laidlaw plans to buy Greyhound Canada for $72 million New York Times September 3, 1997
  6. ↑ FirstGroup buys Greyhound buses BBC News February 9, 2007
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Fleet Greyhound Canada
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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