With files from Rebecca Dyok, MyCaribooNow.com
A Williams Lake-based charter bus company is hoping to be able to provide passenger service from Prince George to Surrey and Williams Lake to Kamloops.
Adventure Charters has applied to the Passenger Transportation Board to start operating the two routes that would connect the interior corridor.
Owner Janna Gertzen says the north was left in limbo when Greyhound stepped out of the province.
“We watched to see what would come up,” she says.
“We knew that there were some pilot programs from Prince George north and to see if one of the bigger companies were stepping in to take over the routes. In the meantime, a company out of Merritt stepped in and applied and got the license and there’s only one license issued for each area.”
“So at that point, we were unable to apply and unfortunately Merritt was unable to come up with the equipment to actually to start operating but they had been holding that license since. We knew that it was going to expire in February so we got our application in before that went so that we were able to step in and get operating as quickly as possible because service to the north and the interior corridors is so important.”
The Prince George RCMP said in their 2018 yearly review that the loss of Greyhound has a correlation to crime in the city, due to it being so much more difficult to travel between locations.
The 36 passenger shuttle from Prince George to Surrey would run twice per week with an option to transfer in Williams Lake for Kamloops.
The 20 shuttle passenger from Williams Lake to Kamloops would also run twice per week.
A final decision is expected within 30 days.
“It will take a little a bit to get everything finalized and the point in the pickup and the ticketing system launched, but ideally we would be operating with the first run within 30 days of that approval,” Gertzen says.